A rapist nurse was able to work freely for more than a year while under investigation because the UK’s scandal-hit nursing regulator failed to suspendhim when police made officials aware of the allegations against him, The Independent can reveal.
John Chukwunonso Iwuh, 54, of South Norwood, Croydon, used his job as a psychiatric nurse to gain the trust of his victim, whom he had met on a dating app, before luring her to his home and raping her after she rejected his advances in June 2022.
He was jailed on 11 July this year for 16 years after being found guilty of rape and voyeurism. The Metropolitan Police have now urged other potential victims to come forward after officers found almost 11,000 contacts on his phone – around 60 per cent of which were saved in the format of a woman’s name and the name of a dating app.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which regulates more than 800,000 nurses and midwives in the UK, has admitted that it did not act quickly enough to suspend Iwuh after it was told of the allegations. Now, two hospital trusts where he worked have launched inquiries of their own after The Independent made them aware of his conviction.
The news follows a series of exposés by The Independent, which revealed whistleblower concerns that a “toxic” culture at the NMC had allowed rogue nurses, including some accused of sexual assault, to practise unchecked.
Failing to act quickly
The Met first contacted the NMC in September 2022 to make it aware of its investigation into Iwuh following his arrest in June 2022. But the regulator took no action, and Iwuh was free to continue working as a nurse without restriction.
The NMC was then approached by another woman in June 2023 who said Iwuh had raped her in April 2022, but again, no action was taken. He was arrested by police in July 2024 over that alleged attack, and investigations are ongoing.
The NMC eventually opened an investigation into Iwuh on 25 October 2023 – a day after the Met Police informed the regulator that he had been charged with the June 2022 rape he has now been convicted of carrying out.
But it took another three weeks for the NMC to suspend him on 13 November – more than a year after police first told the regulator that he had been arrested.
When questioned by The Independent on why it had failed to act, a spokesperson for the NMC admitted it should have suspended Iwuh and notified his NHS employers of complaints about him sooner.
They said: “We recognise that we could – and should – have acted faster, to open our investigation and suspend Mr Iwuh from practice. We also acknowledge that we did not do enough to ensure his employers were aware of the interim suspension order we subsequently issued. For this, we are extremely sorry.”
They said the NMC was assessing its actions to learn lessons and that, following Iwuh’s sentence, it would “move rapidly to strike him off our register”.
The statement added: “We take all allegations of sexual assault extremely seriously. The public should have confidence in the professionals providing their care. Anyone raising a concern deserves to feel supported and listened to.”
The NMC said that since Iwuh’s case, it has embarked on a major turnaround programme and is under new leadership. It has introduced improvements, including updating its guidance on safeguarding referrals, and has set up a Safeguarding Hub, which identifies risks in all new cases and ensures that it alerts the relevant bodies.
“We are building a new NMC, so that we become the fair, effective and trusted regulator the public deserves,” it said.
Two NHS hospital trusts, the Central and North West London Foundation Trust and the Chelsea and Westminster Foundation Trust, where The Independent understands Iwuh worked shifts until at least 2022, have now launched investigations into his employment and contact with patients after being notified of his offending.
The Chelsea and Westminster Foundation Trust said Iwuh had worked there on a temporary and intermittent basis, adding: “We unreservedly condemn the actions of this individual, and our thoughts are with all those affected.”
The Central and North West London Foundation Trust described Iwuh’s crimes as “abhorrent” and said it intends to carry out an inquiry into his time working within its hospitals.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told The Independent: “We are aware of concerns raised about the NMC’s handling of this matter and expect them to learn all necessary lessons.”
Failing to protect public
The latest revelations come after The Independent revealed in January 2023 that the NMC was failing to investigate and sanction nurses accused of sexual assault and domestic violence.
An independent inquiry chaired by former chief crown prosecutor Nazir Afzal, prompted by our reporting, revealed in June 2023 that the regulator was affected by a dysfunctional culture at “every level”, which was causing distress to staff and preventing the organisation from functioning.
The report cited accusations that the NMC was “mishandling” cases related to racism and sexual assault, and that it was failing to protect the public. Examples included the closure of a case against a nurse accused of sexually assaulting patients and raping a colleague because the rape had happened outside of work.
And in August 2024, The Independent revealed that the NMC had failed to act quickly enough after the arrest of Lucy Letby, who was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between 2015 and 2016, because of a loophole in its guidance.
The NMC changed its guidance in April 2024 following a review of its handling of Letby’s case, clarifying that investigators no longer have to wait until a nurse is charged to put a temporary suspension order in place.
