Benart Berisha
Introduction
Benart Berisha is a biomedical scientist who was struck off the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register in April 2024 after a panel found he had violently thrown a colleague to the laboratory floor, held him in a headlock and used repeated abusive and threatening language towards colleagues during a laboratory shift. The panel found the assault and the abusive communication proved and amounting to misconduct, noted his lack of meaningful insight or remediation, and concluded that the continuing risk his violence posed to staff safety and to laboratory services meant only striking off could protect the public. The allegation that he had dishonestly concealed his suspension and dismissal from the HCPC was not proved.
Background Information
Berisha worked as a registered biomedical scientist in a United Kingdom laboratory. The events at the centre of the case took place on 11 April 2021 during a working shift, and the panel heard from four warned witnesses, two of whom were available to give evidence when the hearing opened on 15 April 2024. The registrant made no contact to confirm his attendance, did not join the pre-hearing discussions with the legal assessor, and did not attend to defend the case or put questions to witnesses; other witnesses were unavailable for health reasons, and the panel proceeded on the evidence that was available. The allegation also accused him of failing to inform the HCPC that he had been suspended and then dismissed from his employment over the same events.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Struck off after physically assaulting a colleague at work and directing repeated threats at staff. The assault and abusive communication were found proved; the dishonesty limb of the reporting failures was not found.
The panel found proved that on 11 April 2021 Berisha physically assaulted Colleague A by throwing them to the ground and holding their head in a headlock, and that during working hours he told Colleague A multiple times to “xxxx off”, said “you’re a xxxxx, come outside and I’ll finish you off” or words to that effect, called him a “xxxxx” multiple times, and pointed his finger at Colleague B shouting that he could not believe what she was saying and that she was unbelievable. Those matters amounted to misconduct. The panel did not find dishonesty or misconduct in his failures to report his suspension and dismissal to the HCPC. On sanction, it identified mitigation in some insight and remorse limited to the language he used, a very limited apology, and the incident appearing to be a one-off in an otherwise unblemished career; against that, it found a lack of insight, remorse or apology about the violence itself, no remediation, and potential harm to patients because laboratory work stopped and resumed in an unsafe atmosphere, with no ability to establish the incident would not recur.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The striking-off order is recorded on the official HCPTS hearings site and on MedicWatch’s independent record, with Berisha listed among struck-off practitioners on MedicWatch’s erasures list. The panel reasoned that his continuing violence risk affected colleagues and patient services — a laboratory cannot safely run through threats and assaults — and concluded a lesser sanction was insufficient to protect the public. The determination records that the registrant neither attended nor was represented at the hearing.
Current Status
Berisha was struck off the HCPC register by the decision dated 19 April 2024, ending his ability to work as a registered biomedical scientist in the United Kingdom. The dishonesty allegations about his failure to report his suspension and dismissal form no part of the proved case, and the panel’s sanction turned on the violence and abuse the panel did find proved, together with his lack of insight into them. No public statement from him and no appeal outcome appears in the fetched record.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The removal from the register is permanent in effect, and the incident that ended Berisha’s career lasted minutes: a colleague thrown to the floor, a headlock, and threats to finish him off outside. The panel accepted the violence may have been a one-off in an unblemished career — and struck him off anyway, because it could not establish it would not happen again. His determination remains permanently searchable on the HCPTS site and on independent records such as MedicWatch, the record any future employer in the field will find.