Rebecca Burwood

Introduction

Rebecca Louise Burwood is a nurse who was deputy manager of the Bryn Yr Haul care home in Mold, Flintshire, and who was struck off the nursing register in October 2026 after a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found she had taken around £750,000 from a vulnerable 99-year-old resident over five years, spending it on cosmetic surgery, home improvements, a car and a campervan, while also obtaining ownership of the woman’s £400,000 house. The panel found Burwood held the resident’s lasting power of attorney while overseeing her care at the home where she worked, concealed that fact from her employer, and “weaponised” the trust the woman — who had no family members and depended on Burwood for friendship and social contact — placed in her. Burwood told the hearing she saw the resident as her “nanna” and said she deeply regretted her actions.

Background Information

Burwood had a longstanding relationship with the woman before the resident moved into Bryn Yr Haul in 2018, where Burwood was then working as deputy manager. The resident had no family members and was vulnerable after a fall; the panel heard she was dependent on Burwood for friendship and social contact. Between 2017 and 2023, Burwood became the resident’s lasting power of attorney while also overseeing her care, withdrew money from the woman’s bank account, accepted ownership of her house and received thousands of pounds in cash used for her own benefit, including building work and vehicle purchases. Evidence presented to the hearing showed more than £370,000 had left the resident’s account over five years, with £160,000 of that in large ATM cash withdrawals. Burwood also took the resident to solicitors to transfer ownership of the £400,000 house.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Struck off by the nursing regulator. An NMC panel found Burwood’s fitness to practise was impaired by misconduct and imposed a striking-off order after findings that she financially exploited a 99-year-old resident over five years.

The money trail ran through vehicles, property and building work. Burwood convinced the resident to pay £20,000 for a car and £9,000 for a campervan, which she said was purchased so the pair could go on days out, and claimed the work on her own home had been done so the elderly woman could live with her in the event of another Covid outbreak — though the work had been paid for before any UK lockdown. The hearing was told there was “evidence to show Mrs Burwood used the funds for house improvements, utility bills and council tax,” and there were “allegations that Mrs Burwood used some of the funds for personal cosmetic surgery.” Burwood’s account was that the woman asked her to withdraw cash weekly and donate £250 to £500 at a time to charities supporting the blind or people with heart conditions, and that she kept no records of the withdrawals.

The panel also examined how Burwood responded when the spending came under scrutiny. The resident’s bank referred the matter to North Wales Police, and the account was frozen over concerns about spending — but Burwood attempted to have the restrictions lifted and took the resident to a bank branch, where staff claimed Burwood was “almost blackmailing” the woman, telling her to ask for the accounts to be unlocked. The panel found Burwood told the resident she would not be able to take her on outings if she could not access her money. Another nurse told the hearing she overheard Burwood say to the woman, “I will give you the money back” and “sign here,” which she reported as evidence of financial abuse; Burwood claimed she had been asking the pensioner to sign a condolence card, holding it for her because of the woman’s poor eyesight. Police investigated, but the resident did not want to take further action, describing Burwood as a friend and saying she believed she had “learned from her mistakes.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel’s language was unusually direct for a regulatory ruling. It found Burwood had engaged in a “sustained, calculated course of conduct,” had manipulated the resident for personal gain and had taken advantage of the trust the woman placed in her and “weaponised” it against her. The panel also found she acted dishonestly by failing to tell her employer she held financial lasting power of attorney for a resident at the care home where she worked, and concluded there was a significant imbalance of power in the relationship. Burwood’s actions were “deplorable” and she was “morally culpable,” the committee said, adding that her conduct was “morally reprehensible, showed premeditated behaviour and indicated a deep-seated attitudinal problem.” Her representative, Victoria Rees, told the hearing the resident had said she “didn’t want anything to be left by the time she died, as she didn’t want the government to have her money.”

Current Status

Burwood has been struck off the nursing register, meaning she can no longer work as a nurse anywhere in the United Kingdom. The striking-off order followed the NMC hearing in October 2026; no criminal conviction is recorded in the regulator’s case as published, with police having investigated after the bank referral and the resident having declined to support further action. The panel determined that public confidence in the profession would be undermined if a finding of impairment were not made.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A nursing career that reached deputy manager of a Flintshire care home ended with removal from the register, over conduct the regulator dated across 2017 to 2023 — the whole period in which the 99-year-old, who had no other family, was in her care and under her attorneyship. The case’s arithmetic — around £750,000 taken in cash, payments and property from a single dependent resident — made it one of the largest financial-exploitation findings against a UK nurse in recent years, and the panel’s findings on the attempted bank unlock and the “sign here” exchange recorded how the exploitation continued into the period when the spending was already being questioned. For the resident, the panel accepted, the harm was both financial and emotional.

Sources

• BBC News, “Nurse stole £750k from 99-year-old woman for cosmetic surgery and home improvements,” October 16, 2026. source