Diane Macdonald

Introduction

Diane Macdonald is a registered nurse and midwife from the Isle of Lewis who was struck off the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register after a Fitness to Practise Committee panel found, at a Substantive Order Review Meeting on 17 August 2026, that her fitness to practise remained impaired by reason of lack of competence. The striking-off order takes effect at the end of 3 October 2026 under Article 30(1) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001. The case rested on clinical practice deficiencies in maternity care, CTG monitoring, documentation, escalation and care planning accumulated between 2016 and 2021.

Background Information

Macdonald held two registrations under NMC PIN 88E0102S: RN1 adult nurse, level 1, from 23 September 1991, and midwife from 30 May 1994. Many of the charges found proved against her arose while she was already under workplace supervision — a support improvement plan, a Supported Improvement Plan or a Capability Process — and another block arose during a Supported Practice Placement at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. The NMC imposed a 12-month suspension order on 5 September 2024, extended by a further 12 months at a first review on 20 August 2025. Macdonald was not present and was not represented at the August 2026 meeting.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings described here are regulatory findings made on the balance of probabilities by a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel — not criminal convictions, and a striking-off order is not a criminal record. The charges below were found proved at the original hearing; the case was brought as lack of competence, with no dishonesty or criminal element alleged.

The charge list opened with a 2016 pool birth: on 4 April 2016, Macdonald “Cut Patient A’s umbilical cord underwater” and “Asked if you could give Patient A opiates in the birthing pool”, and did not document clearly whether Syntometrine had been administered. On an unknown date in or around 2016 she “did not use a CTG for monitoring when a Patient was being administered intravenous Syntocinon”, and on an unknown date in 2017 she “did not identify that a CTG trace was abnormal”.

Further 2017 charges arose while she was on a support improvement plan: she “Did not accurately record Patient details on blood samples”, failed to record patient details accurately or comprehensibly in patient notes, and on 13 July 2017 “did not refer Patient C, a high risk patient, to a Consultant prior to sending them home”. The next day she “delivered Baby D without calling for a second Midwife” — a decision the panel found she made because she was concerned the second midwife “would have advised Patient D to come out of the birthing pool” against the patient’s wishes.

In 2018 she “attempted to look for a Patient’s womb level while the Patient was sat up”, and between 1 April and 31 July 2018 “recorded incorrect dates of birth for Patients on a blood transfusion form”. On 5 June 2018, while subject to a Capability Process, her records of Patient B’s induction of labour were found inadequate or inaccurate — her “CTG tracing included a gap of 1 hour and 15 minutes without a fresh eyes review” — and she claimed competence in applying a foetal scalp electrode “when you had never used or applied one before”.

A Supported Practice Placement at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital between 21 and 30 October 2019 produced a further block of findings: she was “unsure of what steps to take when a placenta was not delivered immediately after the delivery of a baby”, “did not identify and/or escalate to Colleague D a change in a CTG trace”, required prompting to apply personal protective equipment, failed to employ a “‘clean hand, dirty hand’ aseptic technique” when inserting a urinary catheter, was twice unable to artificially rupture a membrane, was “unable to tell a doctor the strength or duration of a contraction from abdominal palpatations”, and could not “plan next steps of care without assistance from Colleague D”.

Finally, between 10 May and 2 September 2021, while on a Supported Improvement Plan, she did not complete one or more of its objectives: documentation, care planning according to the Red/Green Pathway, assessment of intrapartum care needs, decision making, and management of induction of labour.

Public Reaction and Consequences

No independent public or media reaction beyond the published regulator decision is recorded in the sources. The first reviewing panel extended the suspension on 20 August 2025, noting that Macdonald “has not provided any reflective piece to demonstrate any insight into her clinical failings” and “has not provided any evidence of any steps she has taken to strengthen her practice”, and recording that in an email of 23 August 2024 she told the NMC “she is not returning to work for the NHS or anyone else, and is waiting to remove herself from the NMC register”.

At the 2026 review the panel had “no evidence of relevant training, continuing professional development or other steps taken” to address the concerns, and determined that “there remained a risk of repetition and a consequent risk of harm to patients” were she permitted to return to unrestricted practice. It ruled out caution and conditions orders, decided that a “further period of suspension would not serve any useful purpose”, and concluded that a striking-off order was “the only sanction that would adequately protect the public and serve the public interest”.

Current Status

Macdonald is struck off the NMC register. The panel directed the registrar to strike her name from the register upon expiry of the current suspension order, with the striking-off order taking effect at the end of 3 October 2026 under Article 30(1). She did not attend the review and was unrepresented; the panel was satisfied that notice, sent to her registered email address by secure email on 16 July 2026, had been served in accordance with the NMC (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The striking-off ends a nursing and midwifery registration dating from 1991 and 1994 respectively. The panel accepted that the concerns were capable of remediation but, in the absence of evidence of reflection, training, professional development or strengthening of practice, was “unable to conclude that the concerns had in fact been remedied”. The case is a lack-of-competence matter rather than a misconduct or dishonesty case: an accumulation of clinical, monitoring and documentation failings across successive support plans that the panel found had never been addressed.

Sources

• MedicWatch, “NMC panel strikes off Diane Macdonald after lack of competence findings”, published 17 August 2026, updated 23 September 2026. source
• Nursing and Midwifery Council, “Fitness to Practise Committee — Substantive Order Review Meeting, Diane Macdonald: decision and reasons”, 17 August 2026. source