Ifeyinwa Chizube Ndulue-Nonso

Introduction

Ifeyinwa Chizube Ndulue-Nonso is a dietitian who was struck off the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register in March 2026 after a Conduct and Competence Committee panel found that she had dishonestly overstated her clinical experience and knowledge when applying for a senior NHS dietitian post. In her application to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust for a Band 6 Dietitian position in 2023, she claimed experience across a schedule of more than twenty clinical areas, from eating disorders and oncology to parenteral nutrition, that the panel found she did not have. The panel found the deception amounted to misconduct that impaired her fitness to practise and made a Striking Off Order, removing her from the register.

Background Information

Ndulue-Nonso was registered with the HCPC as a dietitian. In or around August and September 2023 she applied to Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust for the position of Band 6 Dietitian, the mid-grade NHS post above the entry-level Band 5 role, which requires substantial demonstrated clinical experience across specialties. Her application form and interview process required her to state her experience of and knowledge in a range of clinical matters set out in Schedule A of the allegation, a list of twenty-two items including eating disorders, gastrointestinal diseases, obesity, cancer, burns, nutrition analysis, research projects, specialties from neurology and colorectal surgery to endocrinology and respiratory medicine, care of the elderly, oncology, artificial feeding, coeliac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, dysphagia, liver disease, learning disabilities, mental health, an electronic medical record system, parenteral and enteral feeding, nutritional supplements, and medical lab scientists.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated finding, not an allegation. A HCPC Conduct and Competence Committee panel made these findings in March 2026 on the balance of probabilities. They are civil-standard regulatory determinations; no criminal charge was involved in the record covered here.

The HCPC alleged that during the application she stated she had experience of and/or knowledge of matters in Schedule A when she did not, and that this was dishonest because she knew she lacked the claimed experience and knowledge. At the hearing, which ran from 2 to 10 March 2026 by virtual video conference, her representative confirmed an admission of Particular 1 in relation to items 1 to 21 of Schedule A, with only the claim about Microsoft Word applications disputed, while Particular 2, the dishonesty, was denied. On day three, Ndulue-Nonso served a witness statement before giving evidence, saying that when she claimed experience with certain conditions and specialties she was thinking of patients she had seen and dietetic care she had provided in her role. The panel found this inconsistent with the admission and sought clarification; her representative reframed it as an admission that she lacked the experience at Band 6 level, noting she had some knowledge from her qualification and her work in Nigeria. The panel rejected the reframing, found the dishonesty proved, found misconduct and impairment, and concluded that her behaviour was “wholly unacceptable and was incompatible with registration.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel held that all of the criteria for a Striking Off Order were applicable: the public is entitled to expect members of the profession to behave with decency, honesty, and integrity, and her misconduct was so serious as to be incompatible with her remaining on the register. It concluded that a striking off order was required to protect the public, declare and uphold proper standards of behaviour, and maintain confidence in the profession and its regulator. An interim order had been in place since November 2024, restricting her practice through the two years between the trust’s application process and the final hearing. The Registrar was directed to strike her name from the register, and the full decision, including the Schedule A list and the panel’s handling of her evidence, is published on the HCPTS hearings site.

Current Status

Ndulue-Nonso was struck off on 10 March 2026. She is no longer a registered dietitian and cannot practise under the protected title while the order stands; restoration would require a successful application years after the striking off. The striking off rests on the dishonesty finding, which the panel reached after rejecting her explanation that the overstated claims reflected a misunderstanding of the Band 6 standard rather than deliberate deception. The trust’s recruitment process, which uncovered the problem, did not lead to criminal proceedings in the record covered here; the outcome was entirely regulatory. No further public statement from Ndulue-Nonso is recorded in the published decision.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The order ends her attempt to progress into senior NHS dietitian work and removes the registration her professional identity depended on. The case is a signal example of NHS application dishonesty being prosecuted to a terminal regulatory outcome: the schedule of twenty-two claimed competencies, the admission covering all but one of them, and the witness statement that contradicted the admission were all documented and published. It also shows how the gap between an entry-level and mid-grade post becomes the fault line, with the panel treating claims to Band 6-level experience across specialties from oncology to parenteral nutrition as matters a registered dietitian knows she has or has not done. For trusts, it evidences that exaggerated credentialing in allied-health recruitment is being caught and escalated to the regulator rather than absorbed as a hiring miss.

Sources

• HCPTS, “Ifeyinwa Chizube Ndulue-Nonso — Final Hearing, Conduct and Competence Committee, Struck off,” March 2026. source