What happened
According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s decision, the nurse had been on the register since 1982 and had worked at a nursing and residential care home in Hatfield since August 2019. The home specialises in dementia, end of life care and elderly mental health. He was on a night shift on 14 March 2020.
Resident A, a man with dementia who had one-to-one care, was in the lounge with a carer. The carer was moving him from his wheelchair into a chair when he started kicking and pushing and trying to stand. The carer tried to calm him.
The nurse was in the office. He came into the lounge, took the resident by the shoulders, pushed him down into an armchair and put his knee on the man’s thigh. With his knee still there, he said: “you might be able to hit the girls, but you won’t be able to hit me”.
On 16 March the carer reported it to the home manager, who told the directors. The nurse was summarily dismissed in April 2020.
The outcome
On 17 and 18 September 2025 the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s fitness to practise committee accepted a consensual panel determination. The nurse admitted all four particulars: the shoulders, the push, the knee and the remark. He admitted misconduct and that his fitness to practise was currently impaired. The panel made a striking-off order, with an 18 month interim suspension order. No criminal proceedings are recorded.
What went wrong
No injury was recorded, and that is the first point. The finding did not depend on harm. The agreed determination describes the conduct as unprofessional and as involving physical aggression, the use of force and verbal intimidation. It records that inappropriate physical restraint can place vulnerable patients at risk of emotional harm.
According to the decision, the nurse was already subject to a five year caution order, imposed on 30 May 2019 for conduct in 2017 that included threats to a patient and an inappropriate moving and handling technique. The panel treated that as aggravating. The home employed him with the order in place.
What it teaches
A man with dementia who kicks out during a transfer is a moving and handling problem. He is not challenging anyone’s authority. The carer was already managing the situation, and the nurse’s arrival made it worse in four moves.
Restraint is defined by what is done, not by what was meant or what it leaves behind. Pushing a person down and kneeling on him is restraint. The remark that came with it turns a handling failure into intimidation.
There is a management lesson underneath. A caution order is published information about a nurse’s practice. Employing someone under one is a decision that needs a plan.
Questions for the room
- The carer was already handling this. What should the nurse have done on entering the lounge?
- What does the sentence about hitting the girls tell the resident about who is in charge of his own body?
- The home knew about the caution order. What should a manager do with that knowledge?
Evidence and limits
Confidence: probable, on a single source.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council determination is the establishing record and was read. The home is anonymised in it, so the location is given only at town level. The determination set out the facts, the misconduct analysis and the start of the impairment reasoning. The panel’s reasoning on sanction was not read, so the striking-off and the aggravating factors rest on the record’s account.
The case was decided by agreement, not on contested evidence. He admitted the facts, and no tribunal tested them.
Proceedings concluded on 17 September 2025.
Our restraint reduction training covers what to do when a person with dementia resists care, and when hands are not the answer.
Sources
Reviewed 20 October 2026.