A nurse from East London has been sanctioned by her professional regulator after a tribunal found she engaged in a prolonged campaign of bullying and aggression against multiple colleagues over more than a decade.
A Pattern of Aggressive Behaviour
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has imposed an 18-month conditions of practice order on Catherine Anne Wood, who first registered as a nurse in 1993. The substantive order follows a misconduct hearing held in November 2025.
The panel heard that Wood's misconduct began as far back as 2010 and 2011. On one occasion, she called a colleague who was on sick leave and shouted at them, using words to the effect of, 'you should have been at work, where are you'.
Her behaviour included acts of physical aggression, such as pushing a colleague, and verbal abuse, including calling another colleague a "b****" in front of others.
Insensitive and Discriminatory Conduct
The tribunal examined several specific incidents that demonstrated a pattern of deeply insensitive and potentially discriminatory behaviour. In 2017, when a colleague requested compassionate leave to attend her father's funeral in Ghana, Wood refused to grant sufficient time. She told the colleague, 'you're not the only person whose dad was dead'.
This treatment continued in 2019 when the same colleague asked for four weeks of annual leave to attend her brother's memorial service in Ghana. Wood only approved two weeks and one day.
Furthermore, after the colleague participated in strike action for 20 minutes, Wood demanded she sign an agreement to have four hours deducted from her salary. In 2021, when questioned about why she was being treated differently, Wood made racially charged remarks, saying words to the effect of, "you have two girls right?" and "you can't love them equally can you?".
Sanctions and Public Protection
The NMC panel concluded that Wood's fitness to practise is currently impaired because of her misconduct. The 18-month conditions of practice order is designed to compel her to improve her professional behaviour.
The panel stated that the order was necessary for the protection of the public and in the public interest. They confirmed that the conditions of an interim order would be the same as those in the substantive order for the full 18-month period.
If no appeal is made, the interim order will be replaced by the substantive conditions of practice order 28 days after Wood receives the written decision of the hearing.
