A decorated NHS nurse who spent four decades working her way up from cleaner to ward manager has been struck off the register after posting Facebook posts made in the aftermath of the Southport riots.
Roberta Batchelor, who received a Pride of Nursing award in Birmingham in 2015, had her licence revoked following a disciplinary hearing that concluded her social media activity “sought to cause offence to immigrants…and those of Muslim faith”.
The senior nurse, who was employed at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, had previously been featured in hospital promotional material celebrating diversity, including a 13-minute Instagram video that has since been removed.
Her posts, which began appearing in August 2024, were deemed “racially motivated” by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel.
The content shared by Ms Batchelor included an image depicting Arab men pursuing a child with a knife, accompanied by text stating: “Next time when you pay your taxes, remember that some of your money goes to the ‘protection of Mosques’.”
A second post featured a split image contrasting a crowded migrant boat arriving at shore, labelled “these give nothing and get everything”, with a photograph of a homeless veteran captioned “these give everything and get nothing”.
She also shared a biblical passage warning: “Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours.
“They will have money to lend you, but you will have none to lend them. In the end they will be your rulers.”
Her final post displayed an airport security check labelled “you at the airport” alongside an image of someone disembarking from a boat captioned “Muhammad at Dover”.
An award-winning NHS nurse has been struck off after sharing anti-migrant posts deemed offensive to Muslims
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UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS BIRMINGHAM NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Shortly after the posts appeared online, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust received a complaint from a member of the public alleging the content was racially abusive.
The trust subsequently launched an investigation, which uncovered the Facebook posts targeting Muslims and migrants on Ms Batchelor’s account.
When confronted during the inquiry, the nurse acknowledged she had made the posts and offered an apology.
The NMC determined that Ms Batchelor had violated multiple provisions of its professional code, including requirements to “treat people with kindness, respect and compassion” and to “make sure you do not express your personal beliefs (including political, religious or moral beliefs) to people in an inappropriate way”.
Ms Batchelor made the posts in the wake of the Southport riots
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Patrick Hurst/PAShe was also found to have breached rules governing the responsible use of “all forms of spoken, written and digital communication (including social media and networking sites)”.
Ms Batchelor accepted that her social media activity constituted serious misconduct and expressed a desire to leave the profession entirely.
In her statement to the NMC, she said: “I was posting horrible stuff on Facebook. I was angry because at the time the government was going to take away the elderly’s TV licence and winter fuel – I allowed myself to get caught up in all the unrest in the country.
“I cannot forgive myself for doing this as all my family are black and ethnic minority. I find it very difficult to forgive myself for doing this ridiculous thing.
“I apologised to all my family and friends also work friends who knew it wasn’t something I would do without a reason.
“So for my sanity I wish to be removed from nursing as I don’t feel I should have that privilege.”
She added: “I fully except responsibility for my actions. I would like to say how I feel so disgusted with myself for being so angry that I took this out with horrible stuff on Facebook I should never allow myself to get into such a situation as a professional.”
The NMC panel concluded that Ms Batchelor’s expression of remorse fell short of demonstrating “serious reflection” regarding her “racially motivated and discriminatory actions”.
In its ruling, the panel stated: “This happened on several occasions and is evidence of deep-seated attitudinal issues.
“Ms Batchelor’s actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register.”
The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Ms Batchelor’s actions were serious and to allow her to continue practising would give rise to a real risk of harm to the public and undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.
They ruled: “The panel considered that a striking off order is necessary to protect the public and to mark the seriousness of Ms Batchelor’s misconduct and underpin the importance of maintaining public confidence in the profession, and send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standard of behaviour required of a registered nurse.”