Vindictive, Malicious and Calculated" - Nurse Slams Regulator As Suicides Continue

Ishbel Straker, who runs her own private mental health practice in Liverpool, says the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has attempted to “destroy” her credibility and career after she raised the alarm about their handling of her Fitness to Practise (FtP) case. MPs and campaigners have told LBC her case is part of an alarming trend when it comes to the watchdog’s approach to FtP cases, with 33 nurses and midwives known to have died by suicide while awaiting case resolution since 2016. Ishbel first blew the whistle on a healthcare provider in November 2020, which prompted the healthcare provider to make a “retaliatory complaint” to the NMC one month later. But, after three years of “doing nothing” with her case, Ishbel claims the NMC started “fishing” for evidence that did not exist after a new referral by a disgruntled ex-employee. 

In July 2024, Ishbel wrote an open letter to the CEO of the NMC, raising concerns about the way her case had been handled. Less than a month later, she had been put through Fitness to Practise and suspended. Both the NMC and CQC refused to comment on the specifics of Ishbel’s case. The NMC did, however, acknowledge and apologise for the length of time taken to reach decisions in fitness to practise cases. Their spokesperson said: “We’ve made a substantial investment in an improvement plan, and this year we have been making record numbers of decisions and resolving a greater proportion of cases within our target of 15 months. “We have also improved our approach to safeguarding, including launching a Safeguarding Hub – over the past year this has pre-screened over 5,000 new referrals to our fitness to practise process, and has taken on more than 1,200 of those for a full review to ensure the right steps are taken to keep people from harm.”