Penny Senner

Introduction

Penny Ann Senner is a British adult nurse who worked for Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust. In June 2026, LBC reported that she had been struck off the UK nursing register after a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct panel found that, at a routine appointment in August 2023, she told a patient — an anonymous woman identified as “Patient A”, who was then going through chemotherapy — that Covid vaccinations had caused her cancer and that the supposed link had been “hushed up”. The panel found four of the six charges against Senner proven, including that she had given the patient a leaflet, retrieved from her car, carrying a link to an anti-vaccination website, and ruled that she had attempted to undermine public confidence in public health advice.

Background Information

Senner was employed as an adult nurse at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust when the events at the centre of the case took place. The entire case arose from a single routine appointment in August 2023: Patient A told the panel she saw Senner at that appointment, where the nurse raised the subject of Covid jabs in what the patient described as a “sly manner”. The matter was handled as a regulatory misconduct case before the NMC rather than a criminal prosecution, and no criminal charge ever arose from it. At the hearing, Senner was represented by Niall McCrae, who questioned the patient about her views.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings described below were found proven by a Nursing and Midwifery Council misconduct panel, with the ruling reported on 17 June 2026; they are regulatory findings of an NMC tribunal and a matter of tribunal record. They are not criminal convictions, and Senner was never criminally charged or tried. Two of the six charges brought against her were not proven, and any conduct connected to those charges remains an unproven allegation. Senner told the panel she was deeply sorry to hear Patient A was upset, adding “this was certainly not my intention”; her response was noted but did not prevent the findings.

The panel’s findings rest largely on Patient A’s own account, given in a witness statement and quoted by LBC: “She asked if I had been vaccinated, which I assumed was a routine inquiry.” She continued: “I informed her that I had received the vaccinations and boosters.” And: “Ms Senner then said that ’that’s what caused your cancer.’” The patient added: “Ms Senner explicitly stated that the vaccines were the cause of my cancer and that this had been hushed up.” She told the panel the comments were “direct and definitive” and were not framed as a suggestion or a possibility.

Patient A also told the panel that Senner offered her a leaflet retrieved from her car, which she accepted “out of genuine concern”. “Later, when I looked at the website referenced in the leaflet, I realised it was an anti-vaccination website and not a source of new or reliable information as I had been told,” she said. Among the four charges the panel found proven was the giving of that leaflet with its link to an anti-vaccination website. The tribunal was told the conversation had left Patient A fearful about allowing her children to receive the Covid vaccination, worried they might get cancer. The panel ruled that Senner attempted to undermine public confidence in public health advice with her actions.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The ruling drew national coverage when LBC reported it on 17 June 2026, with the striking-off — and the encounter with a patient mid-chemotherapy — at the centre of the story. In its ruling, the panel acknowledged that Senner did not intend to harm Patient A, but considered that her misconduct caused lasting emotional and psychological harm. It found that she “did not behave kindly or professionally during her interaction with Patient A and did not recognise or acknowledge Patient A’s vulnerability at the time”. The ruling added: “A member of the public would be shocked to learn that a registered nurse was sharing their personal beliefs with patients, when they knew that these were inconsistent with their employer’s policies and UK health guidance.”

Patient A, questioned at the hearing by McCrae about whether evidence that Covid jabs could raise the risk of cancer, or quicken its progress, would change her view, answered: “No, it will not change my view.” She described her position at the time: “I was at a very vulnerable state. I was going through chemotherapy. I had no hair. I was having several medical appointments a week.” She added: “I did not need somebody to come in and basically tell me that I could have prevented my own disease.”

Current Status

As of the ruling reported on 17 June 2026, Senner has been struck off the nursing register. The panel made an order to remove her from the register, with an interim suspension order of 18 months to allow her time to appeal. The reporting contains no indication that she has appealed. The case remains a regulatory one: no criminal charge or conviction arose from the events at the appointment.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The striking-off order ends Senner’s career as a registered nurse in the United Kingdom for as long as it stands. Four of the six charges against her were found proven, including the giving of the anti-vaccination leaflet, and the panel’s conclusion that she attempted to undermine public confidence in public health advice was central to the sanction. Her statement to the panel — that she was deeply sorry to hear Patient A was upset and that harm was “certainly not my intention” — did not prevent the findings or the removal order. The route back identified in the reporting is an appeal, for which the 18-month interim suspension order was intended to give her time.