Anish Babu Thananki

Introduction

Anish Babu Thananki is a nurse who was registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) under number 23C1835O. On 11 September 2026, at the end of a substantive hearing that ran from 1 to 11 September 2026, the NMC’s Fitness to Practise Committee directed that he be struck off the register. The decision followed findings that he had dishonestly omitted parts of his employment history to secure an intensive care unit (ICU) nursing role and had made unwanted comments of a sexual nature to a colleague. An 18-month interim suspension covers the appeal period before the final order takes effect.

Background Information

The published determination records little about Thananki’s background beyond his status as a nurse on the NMC register. It records that he substantially misrepresented his ICU experience in securing the ICU nursing role, a misrepresentation the panel treated as carrying a risk to patient safety, and it refers to difficult personal circumstances, which it listed in mitigation. It also states expressly that private personal and health matters are not disclosed. No dates for the underlying incidents, no details of his training or earlier employment, and no previous regulatory history are recorded in the published determination.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations vs. findings. The findings are regulatory findings by NMC Fitness to Practise Committee on the civil standard (the balance of probabilities). No criminal conviction is recorded in the determination.

The panel proved two clusters of charges. The first concerned his employment history: the panel found that Thananki dishonestly omitted parts of his employment history in order to secure an ICU nursing role, substantially misrepresenting his ICU experience in the process. The second concerned his conduct toward a colleague: the panel found that he made unwanted comments of a sexual nature to a colleague, that the comments breached professional boundaries, and that they had an intimidating, humiliating or offensive effect.

The panel did not prove everything alleged against him. It did not find an intention to violate the colleague’s dignity or to create an intimidating, humiliating or offensive environment; the proved findings went to the comments themselves and their effect, not to a proved intention behind them. Separately, on an allegation that he had slapped another colleague, the NMC offered no evidence and the panel allowed the application. That allegation therefore stands neither proved nor disproved in the determination.

Having made its findings, the panel concluded that Thananki’s fitness to practise was impaired. It found serious misconduct and impairment on both public protection and public interest grounds. Its assessment of his insight was central: it found insufficient insight into the dishonesty and the sexual harassment and into their effects on patients and the colleague. It acknowledged the mitigation before it, including his attendance, the evidence he gave, a reflective statement, expressed remorse and difficult personal circumstances, but considered that conditions of practice or a suspension order would be insufficient, and imposed a striking-off order.

The determination records the factors the panel weighed. In mitigation it listed his attendance at the hearing, his giving of evidence and undergoing cross-examination, a reflective statement, expressed remorse for the distress caused and regret for his conduct, and difficult personal circumstances. In aggravation it listed: premeditated, sustained and deliberate dishonesty for personal gain; the risk to patient safety arising from substantially misrepresenting his ICU experience; a lack of insight into the dishonesty and its patient-safety impact; wrongly blaming others during the hearing; sexual misconduct that created an unsafe workplace; a lack of insight into its sexual nature and impact; the emotional harm caused to the colleague; and a risk to a vulnerable patient whose treatment was delayed during the incident.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The determination records the sanction mechanics rather than any press commentary or public reaction. The panel imposed a striking-off order together with an 18-month interim suspension covering the appeal period. If no appeal is made, the substantive order replaces the interim order 28 days after written notification of the decision. The determination records the regulator’s findings rather than press coverage, and no public statements by Thananki are recorded in it.

Current Status

As determined on 11 September 2026, Anish Babu Thananki is struck off the NMC register, with an 18-month interim suspension in force for the appeal period. Erasure removes a practitioner from the register so that they are no longer permitted to practise as a nurse in the UK. If no appeal is lodged, the striking-off order takes the place of the interim suspension 28 days after written notification; if an appeal is made, the interim order continues to cover the appeal period. The NMC register itself is the authoritative source for his current registration status.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The striking-off order ends Thananki’s ability to practise as a registered nurse in the UK for as long as it stands. The panel’s reasoning made clear why it regarded lesser sanctions as insufficient: the dishonesty was found to be premeditated, sustained and deliberate and committed for personal gain, while the misrepresentation of ICU experience carried an acknowledged risk to patient safety, including a risk to a vulnerable patient whose treatment was delayed during the incident. On the sexual-misconduct findings, the panel found the conduct created an unsafe workplace and caused emotional harm to the colleague. It acknowledged his participation in the hearing, his reflective statement and his expressed remorse, but found that insight and remediation remained insufficient, both into the dishonesty and its patient-safety consequences and into the sexual nature and impact of his comments. That gap between participation and insight was what the panel held could not safely be managed by conditions or suspension.

Sources

• MedicWatch, “Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing NMC orders Anish Babu Thananki struck off over dishonesty and sexual harassment”, 11 September 2026. source