Mary Cascioli v Nursing and Midwifery Council
[2024] EWHC 1109 (Admin)
Neneh Fofanah v Nursing and Midwifery Council
17 May 2023
[2023] EWHC 1406 (Admin)
High Court
A nurse was fired for dishonesty after a court found her guilty of fraud. She tried to appeal but the judge agreed with her employer, saying the evidence of her dishonesty was clear and losing her job was the right punishment.
Key Facts
- •Neneh Fofanah, a registered mental health nurse, was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fitness to Practise Panel on 26 September 2022.
- •Fofanah was convicted on six counts of fraud at Nottingham Crown Court on 16 April 2022 for dishonestly claiming sick pay while working elsewhere.
- •Fofanah appealed the NMC's decision under section 29 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Order 2001.
- •Fofanah claims her conviction was a miscarriage of justice and that she was not dishonest.
- •Fofanah's appeals against the criminal conviction have failed, but the matter is under consideration by the Criminal Cases Review Commission.
Legal Principles
A criminal conviction is conclusive proof of the facts underlying the conviction in subsequent professional disciplinary proceedings.
Rules 31(2) and (3) of the Fitness to Practise Rules
The test for impairment of fitness to practise considers whether the registrant's conduct has brought or is liable to bring the profession into disrepute, breached or is liable to breach fundamental tenets of the profession, or involved dishonesty.
Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence v NMC and Grant [2011] EWHC 927 (Admin) at [76]
An appeal against a professional disciplinary decision will be allowed if the decision was wrong or unjust due to a serious procedural irregularity.
CPR Part 52.21
The purpose of regulatory proceedings is not punitive but to prevent repetition of misconduct and maintain the reputation of the profession.
R(on the application of Low) v. General Osteopathic Council [2007] EWHC 2839 (Admin) and Bolton v. The Law Society
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The panel was bound to accept the criminal conviction as conclusive proof of the facts. The panel correctly found Fofanah's fitness to practice was impaired due to her dishonesty and lack of insight. Striking off was a proportionate sanction given the seriousness and repeated nature of the offences.
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