David R Nelson
Introduction
David R Nelson is a physiotherapist whose name stood on the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register under number PH64299. On 27 August 2026, at the end of a hearing that had begun on 9 June 2026, a Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) panel found his fitness to practise currently impaired and ordered him struck off the register. The case concerned allegations that he adjusted yoga participants without their consent, touched two participants’ breasts in a sexually motivated way, exposed his underwear during a physiotherapy appointment, and disclosed another patient’s treatment or test results. The panel proved the consent, touching and confidentiality allegations, dismissed the underwear-related charges, and found limited insight and a risk of repetition.
Background Information
The published record identifies Nelson as a physiotherapist registered with the HCPC under number PH64299. The proved and dismissed allegations arose outside a conventional ward setting: the touching findings concerned two participants — Persons A and B — at yoga sessions, while the dismissed underwear allegation arose during a physiotherapy appointment and the partly proved confidentiality allegation concerned information about another patient’s treatment. Before this matter he had no previous disciplinary history with the HCPC, a factor the panel listed in mitigation. The record states that he engaged earlier in the process, though his participation was incomplete overall. The published record does not name his employer or the location of the sessions, and this page does not guess at them.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings below come from an HCPTS panel determination, which decides allegations on the balance of probabilities. They are regulatory findings, not criminal convictions. The underwear allegation was not proved, the related sexual-motivation charge was dismissed at half-time, and disclosure of test results was not proved.
The panel proved lack of consent (particular 1), the touching of two yoga participants’ breasts (particulars 2 and 3), and both the sexual nature and sexual motivation of that touching (particular 4). It did not prove the allegation of lowering trousers or exposing underwear (particular 5); the related sexual-motivation charge (particular 6) was dismissed at the half-time stage for insufficient evidence. It proved a confidentiality breach about treatment under particular 7, but did not prove disclosure of test results. The proved conduct amounted to misconduct, and the panel found current impairment on both personal and public grounds.
In mitigation the panel cited his previously clean disciplinary record, his partial engagement, and mitigation concerning the less serious particulars about changes to obtaining service users’ consent; “Witnesses have spoken positively about the Registrant’s improved practice regarding consent.” Against that, it found serious departures from standards which reoccurred over a short period, a series of breaches of trust, and disregard for the importance of consent to touching a service user. “He had touched Persons A and B in a sexualised way for his own sexual purposes.” There was no evidence of insight into the harmful effect of his actions on Persons A and B or the damage to public trust in the profession, no genuine expression of remorse, no acknowledgement of the degree of harm, and no evidence of attempted remediation. The panel ordered striking off, with a separate interim suspension covering the appeal period and any appeal, subject to a maximum of 18 months.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The published record contains no press coverage of the hearing and no public statements — none from Nelson beyond his partial participation in the process, and none from the yoga participants, patients or campaign groups. The concrete consequence is the striking-off order itself, together with the interim suspension protecting the public during the appeal window. MedicWatch, which maintains the practitioner-facing record of the decision, aggregates regulator outcomes and states it does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
Current Status
Nelson is struck off the HCPC register, the erasure having been decided on 27 August 2026 at the substantive hearing. The striking-off order takes effect under the applicable appeal arrangements, with the separate interim suspension — up to a maximum of 18 months — covering the appeal period and any appeal that is brought. His MedicWatch profile records his registration status as not yet verified and directs readers to the official HCPC register for current status. The published record shows no appeal and no application for restoration.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Striking off ends Nelson’s ability to practise as an HCPC-registered physiotherapist in the UK unless a future restoration application succeeds. The panel’s reasoning — sexually motivated touching for his own sexual purposes, repeated breaches of trust over a short period, and no insight, remorse or remediation — records why it found lesser sanctions insufficient and a risk of repetition remained. Witness evidence of improved consent practice notwithstanding, the proved findings concerned patients and service users placing themselves in his professional care. The published record contains no information about his circumstances beyond the case, and nothing on this page should be read as going beyond it.