High Court allows appeal in Hannigan v NMC

On 29 January 2026 the High Court (Hannigan v Nursing and Midwifery Council [2026] EWHC 62 (Admin) (29 January 2026)) allowed the appeal by Kara Louise Hannigan against a decision of the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (“NMC”) Fitness to Practise Committee. The case arose from a March 2025 NMC panel decision that found Ms Hannigan’s fitness to practise impaired by reason of misconduct and imposed a 12-month suspension, based on factual findings relating to allegations of bullying and harassment of staff during her employment as a clinic manager between 2014 and 2019. 

Ms Hannigan challenged the panel’s factual findings, the impairment conclusion and the sanction, arguing that certain factual findings were untenable on the evidence and that remittal would be futile because they were bound to be rejected. The NMC accepted parts of the appeal were well-founded and proposed remittal to a differently constituted panel for rehearing of the proved allegations.

The court held that the appellant had not established that the allegations were bound to fail, but that the panel’s decision failed to engage adequately with some defence arguments and provided inadequate reasons. The judge applied established authorities on the court’s discretion to remit and considered factors including public interest in proper regulation, procedural fairness, and the prospect of success on remittal. The court concluded that remittal was appropriate.

The panel’s decision was quashed in part and the matter remitted to a differently constituted panel in respect of the narrowed list of allegations proposed for rehearing, subject to the agreed removal process under the Registration and Appeal Rules.

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