A nurse who told a patient Covid vaccinations were “what caused your cancer” has been struck off the nursing register.
Penny Ann Senner was employed as an adult nurse at Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust when she made the comments, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct panel ruled.
Four out of six charges against the nurse were found proven by the tribunal, including that she had given the patient a leaflet with a link to an anti-vaccination website.
The panel ruled Miss Senner attempted to undermine public confidence in public health advice with her actions.
Anonymous “Patient A” told the panel she saw Miss Senner for a routine appointment in August 2023 when the nurse broached the topic of Covid jabs in a “sly manner”.
The patient said in a witness statement: “She asked if I had been vaccinated, which I assumed was a routine inquiry.
“I informed her that I had received the vaccinations and boosters. Ms Senner then said that ‘that’s what caused your cancer’.
“Ms Senner explicitly stated that the vaccines were the cause of my cancer and that this had been ‘hushed up’.”
Patient A added that the nurse’s comments were not framed as a “suggestion or a possibility” but rather as a “direct and definitive claim”.
She said: “Her tone and choice of words left no room for interpretation. It was a clear and unequivocal statement.”
Asked by Miss Senner’s legal representative, Niall McCrae, whether it would change her view of the nurse if it were shown that the Covid jabs could raise the risk of cancer, or quicken its progress, Patient A said: “No, it will not change my view.
“I was at a very vulnerable state. I was going through chemotherapy. I had no hair. I was having several medical appointments a week.
“I did not need somebody to come in and basically tell me that I could have prevented my own disease.”
Patient A told the panel Miss Senner had offered her a leaflet retrieved from her car, which the patient accepted “out of genuine concern”.
She said: “Later, when I looked at the website referenced in the leaflet, I realised it was an anti-vaccination website and not a source of new or reliable information as I had been told.
“I felt relieved but the experience stayed with me, leaving me distressed for some time.”
The tribunal was told the conversation had left Patient A fearful about allowing her children to receive the Covid vaccination, worried they might get cancer.
Responding to the allegations, Miss Senner said she was “deeply sorry” to hear Patient A was upset, adding “this was certainly not my intention”.
The nurse was also found to have accessed “numerous” patients’ records without authorisation or a legitimate clinical reason.
The panel heard Miss Senner began compiling a list of patients shortly after the Covid vaccines were rolled out, noting the reason for accessing records as “research”.
The ruling said: “The panel acknowledged that Miss Senner did not intend to harm Patient A, however, it considered that her misconduct caused lasting emotional and psychological harm to Patient A.
“Miss Senner did not behave kindly or professionally during her interaction with Patient A and did not recognise or acknowledge Patient A’s vulnerability at the time.”
It added: “A member of the public would be shocked to learn that a registered nurse was sharing their personal beliefs with patients, when they knew that these were inconsistent with their employer’s policies and UK health guidance.”
The panel made an order to strike Miss Senner off the nursing register with an interim suspension order of 18 months to allow her time to appeal.
