Ruba Kilani

Introduction

Ruba Kilani is a registered adult nurse who has been struck off the nursing register after a panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council found she failed to carry out required hourly blood pressure checks on a high dependency patient and then falsified medical records to make it look as though she had . The Fitness to Practise Committee, sitting virtually from October 26 to October 29, 2026, proved three charges against Kilani — including one of dishonesty — found her fitness to practise impaired, and imposed a striking-off order with an eighteen-month interim suspension order to run until the striking-off takes effect . Kilani did not attend the hearing and was unrepresented, having written to the NMC days beforehand that she did not wish to attend .

Background Information

Kilani registered as an adult nurse in September 2021 and worked at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport . The charges concerned the night of May 17–18, 2023, when she was the nurse responsible for Patient A in Bed 17 of the hospital’s high dependency unit, where the expectation was that the patient’s blood pressure would be checked every hour . A senior nurse told the panel the expectation for the patient was hourly observations because “he was in the high dependency unit (HDU) for close monitoring”, with any reduction to four-hourly possible only after speaking to medics or intensivists . In a local interview on June 29, 2023, Kilani confirmed she was responsible for the hourly observations, saying: “Hourly, but can be 4 hourly if wardable, I decided to keep to hourly” .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Struck off by the nursing regulator. The panel proved charges of failing to monitor the patient, falsifying records to conceal it, and dishonesty.

Charge 1, found proved, was that between 19:45 and 04:00 Kilani did not monitor Patient A’s blood pressure readings every hour as required . The panel accepted the evidence of a colleague, Ms Taylor, that Kilani was the responsible nurse, and drew the inference that because blood pressure readings from that window were not available on the bedside or central monitors — and no other method of taking them was put forward — the readings had not been taken . A second colleague, Ms Moss, took responsibility for the patient while Kilani took her break, and at approximately 04:00 measured his blood pressure using the cuff attached to the bedside monitor .

Charge 2, also proved, was that Kilani falsified medical records to misrepresent that she had monitored Patient A’s blood pressure readings . Charge 3 alleged that her actions in charge 2 were dishonest; applying the two-stage test from Ivey, the panel found this proved on the balance of probabilities . The panel proceeded in Kilani’s absence after she emailed the NMC on October 18, 2026: “I acknowledge receipt of the notice of hearing. I write to inform the NMC that I do not wish to attend the hearing and I do not intend to be represented. Please proceed in my absence.” The hearing was chaired by lay member Janet Fisher, with registrant member Rashmika Shah and lay member Kevin Connolly completing the panel .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The NMC’s case presenter submitted that Kilani’s dishonesty raised “fundamental questions” around her professionalism as a nurse, and that the public’s confidence would not be maintained if she were not struck off the register . The panel determined that a striking-off order was the appropriate and proportionate sanction, directing the registrar to remove her from the register . It also imposed an interim suspension order of eighteen months to protect the public until the striking-off sanction takes effect . The regulator’s guidance for “the highest risk cases” framed the decision, and the falsification finding meant the case was not treated as an isolated monitoring failure but as dishonesty about patient care .

Current Status

Kilani is struck off the NMC register, with a striking-off order made at the conclusion of the October 2026 substantive hearing and an eighteen-month interim suspension order running until the striking-off takes effect . The charges all related to events that occurred in 2023, and the panel noted a strong public interest in the expeditious disposal of the case when deciding to proceed without her . She made no response to the allegations beyond declining to attend .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The striking-off ends Kilani’s nursing registration three years after the night in question, and the dishonesty finding means any future application to return to the register would carry the burden of overcoming a proven record of falsifying patient records . Her non-engagement with the regulator — the panel noted she had made no response to the allegations — left the findings unchallenged and unmitigated by any evidence of insight or remediation .

Sources

• Nursing and Midwifery Council, Fitness to Practise Committee, “Reasons: Ruba Kilani, Substantive Hearing, 26–29 October 2026,” October 29, 2026 — source