Santa Mandera Struck Off Over Medication Errors in Wandsworth 2026

Key Points

• Nurse Struck Off: Santa Mandera, a mental health nurse who works in South London, has officially been struck off the nursing register after a number of disciplinary hearings held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
• Errors in Medication: It was discovered by the regulator that Santa Mandera gave her patient more than double the amount of Diazepam and administered a medicine called Olanzapine without consent despite being told to stop by a medical doctor.
• Falsification of Patient Records: In an effort to cover up giving Olanzapine to her patient, Ms Mandera falsified patient records, making it appear she administered the drug at midnight.
• Patient Care Failure: According to the fitness to practise panel, Ms Mandera abandoned a vulnerable psychiatric patient for about 20 minutes with no supervision at all and wrongfully copied and pasted patient records from one patient file to another.
• Action Taken and Legal Process: An unnamed private psychiatric hospital situated in Wandsworth conducted an internal investigation in August 2021. Ms Mandera then resigned in November 2021, before the case was referred to the regulatory authority in January 2022.

South London, (South London News) 9 September 2026 – Private Psychiatric Hospital

A mental health nurse employed at a private psychiatric facility in Wandsworth has been struck off the medical register by a regulatory panel after administering an excessive dose of controlled medication and falsifying patient logs to cover up her clinical mistakes.

As reported by Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter for MyLondon, Santa Mandera was subjected to a comprehensive fitness to practise inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which concluded its multi-stage hearings in July. The independent regulatory body confirmed in a newly published determination that Ms Mandera’s professional performance was impaired by reason of serious misconduct, noting that her actions demonstrated a systemic “disregard for fundamental nursing responsibilities.”

What Did the Nursing and Midwifery Council Misconduct Panel Discover?

According to official regulatory documentation issued by the NMC, the misconduct panel determined that the actions of Ms Mandera created direct hazards to patient safety, compromised the integrity of clinical documentation relied upon by healthcare teams, and adversely impacted the work of her professional colleagues.

The panel found that the regulatory breaches were not isolated incidents but represented a repeated pattern of unsafe clinical practice occurring over a five-month timeframe in 2021.

Specific findings detailed in the official report show that on 18 March 2021, Ms Mandera left a high-risk psychiatric patient unattended without required staff observation for roughly 20 minutes. Months later, on 27 July 2021, while working a shift at the Wandsworth hospital, she administered more than twice the designated medical prescription of Diazepam to a patient.

During that same working shift, Ms Mandera administered a dose of the antipsychotic drug Olanzapine to a separate patient, despite a medical practitioner having formally ordered the discontinuation of the treatment.

How Did the Nurse Attempt to Cover Up Clinical Errors?

The NMC misconduct panel confirmed that following the unauthorized administration of Olanzapine, Ms Mandera attempted to conceal the lapse by entering a false time stamp into the official electronic administration records. She documented that the medication was given at midnight, calculated to create ambiguity around the precise date of administration and mask her mistake.

Additionally, the panel found that on 9 August 2021, concerns were formally raised after Ms Mandera inadvertently copied and pasted progress notes from one patient’s record directly into the clinical file of a completely different patient, compromising the reliability of medical records used for patient management.

What Arguments Were Raised During the Disciplinary Proceedings?

As detailed in the regulatory determination, legal submissions presented by Rosie Welsh, representing the NMC, emphasized the gravity of the regulatory breaches. As reported by Charlotte Lillywhite of MyLondon, Ms Welsh submitted that the allegations did not constitute minor or isolated lapses in care, but instead represented

“serious failures in fundamental nursing duties, including the supervision of a vulnerable patient, safe administration of medication, accurate record keeping, and maintaining honesty and integrity within the profession.”

In defense of the practitioner, Priya Khanna, representing Ms Mandera, outlined that her client was experiencing severe personal hardship during the period in question. Ms Khanna highlighted that Ms Mandera had undertaken subsequent professional training courses in an effort to remediate her practice and address the identified clinical deficits.

However, the three-member fitness to practise committee concluded that Ms Mandera’s conduct fell significantly below the professional standards required of a registered nurse. In its published conclusion, the panel noted:

“The panel considered that the concerns were wide-ranging and involved different areas of nursing practice, including failures to undertake appropriate observations, failures in medication administration, failures in record keeping, inaccurate documentation, and a failure to demonstrate openness and honesty.”

The panel concluded that a striking-off order was the only appropriate and proportionate sanction to protect the public and uphold public confidence in the nursing profession.

Background of the Particular Development

The formal regulatory intervention by the Nursing and Midwifery Council represents the final stage of an administrative and disciplinary process spanning several years.

The internal disciplinary process began in August 2021 when management at the unnamed private psychiatric hospital in Wandsworth launched an internal investigation into clinical irregularities on the ward. During initial internal interviews, Ms Mandera denied the operational allegations made against her.

Following the commencement of internal workplace proceedings, Ms Mandera tendered her resignation from the private healthcare facility on 4 November 2021. In accordance with statutory duties regarding patient safety, the healthcare provider formally referred Ms Mandera to the NMC in January 2022.

The regulator subsequently launched formal proceedings under its Fitness to Practise rules, culminating in a series of committee hearings between 2025 and mid-2026. The committee reviewed written statements, night shift allocation records, and ward CCTV footage. Despite submissions from Ms Mandera’s legal representative regarding the absence of timestamps on specific CCTV recordings, the panel admitted the material alongside witness testimony to establish the factual basis of the charges.

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Prediction: How Will This Ruling Affect Patients, Healthcare Providers, and the Nursing Profession?

The decision to strike Santa Mandera from the nursing register carries distinct implications for key stakeholders across the mental health and regulatory sectors:

For Patients and Families

The striking-off order provides immediate protection to service users by removing a practitioner deemed unfit to practise from clinical settings. For patients in vulnerable psychiatric units, where individuals often rely entirely on staff for medication management and continuous observation, strict regulatory enforcement reinforces safety standards. However, details of dishonest record-keeping may temporarily heighten anxiety among families regarding the transparency of clinical logs in private mental health settings.

For Private Psychiatric Hospitals and Healthcare Providers

Private healthcare providers across Greater London are likely to face increased scrutiny regarding their internal auditing procedures, particularly concerning digital record-keeping and medication administration systems. The case highlights operational risks associated with copy-pasting entries in electronic patient records and managing shift handovers around midnight. Providers may implement stricter real-time verification protocols for controlled substances like Diazepam and mandate dual-sign-off procedures when prescriptions are modified or discontinued by medical doctors.

For Registered Nurses and the Wider Medical Profession

For the broader nursing workforce, this ruling reinforces the absolute regulatory expectation regarding candour and accurate documentation. The NMC’s firm stance demonstrates that personal mitigating factors, while noted, will not excuse deliberate dishonesty or the falsification of medical logs. The outcome underscores that attempting to cover up a clinical mistake carries far severe professional consequences—often resulting in permanent removal from the register—than reporting an error immediately through standard clinical incident protocols.