Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
NMC panel issues one-year caution to nurse Jennifer Beedie for striking prison patient
A Nursing and Midwifery Council panel has imposed a one-year caution order on nurse Jennifer Beedie after finding she struck a patient across the face during an emergency call-out at HMP Ranby, rejecting her account that the strike was made in self-defence.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 27 May 2026 · Updated 10 July 2026
Warning (formally warned) — 1 year
Added to MedicWatch: 10 July 2026Report a correction
What does “formally warned” mean?
A formal warning is a note on the practitioner's record. It does not restrict practice but tells the public that the regulator considered the conduct to have fallen below expected standards.
Concerning Jennifer Beedie, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 20D0575E).
Decision date: 27 May 2026 · Hearing started 19 May 2026 and ended 27 May 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that nurse Jennifer Beedie struck a patient across the face with the back of her hand while attending an emergency call at HMP Ranby prison in September 2023. The panel rejected her account that she acted in self-defence, found her fitness to practise impaired on public interest grounds alone, and imposed a one-year caution order, noting the incident was isolated in an otherwise unblemished career.
Charges
That she, a registered nurse, on 8 September 2023: (1) used inappropriate and/or offensive language towards Patient A — no case to answer; (2) struck Patient A to the face using the back of her hand — proved; (3) stated to a colleague "he's a fucking prick" or words to that effect, referring to Patient A — proved by admission, but found not to amount to serious misconduct in the specific circumstances.
Findings
The panel found charge 2 proved, rejecting Ms Beedie's account of an instinctive pre-emptive strike in self-defence: while she would have believed danger from the patient was imminent, the panel determined she had the knowledge, training and opportunity to avoid it. Striking a vulnerable patient during an emergency call-out at HMP Ranby amounted to misconduct and breached fundamental tenets of the profession. Finding the incident a one-off in an otherwise unblemished career with no ongoing risk of repetition, the panel found fitness to practise impaired on public interest grounds alone and imposed a caution order for one year, having declined the NMC's submission that a striking-off order was required.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
Online courses; reflections; self-referral; positive testimonials; full engagement with the regulatory process; work in a healthcare setting since the incident.
Aggravating factors
Deliberate harm to a vulnerable patient; potential to put colleagues in danger in an emergency situation; abuse of trust; limited insight; limited remediation.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Nursing and Midwifery Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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