An NHS nurse who once earned accolades for her dedication has been removed from her position after posting inflammatory comments online, targeting immigrants with claims that ‘foreigners’ will soon ‘be your rulers’ in Britain.
Roberta Batchelor’s professional license was revoked following a decision by a disciplinary panel, which found her social media activity intentionally offensive towards immigrants and individuals of the Muslim faith.
Batchelor attributed her incendiary remarks to frustration over the Labour government’s reduction of winter fuel allowance and expressed feeling swept up in the national unrest. Her explanations, however, failed to mitigate the situation.
This marked a disappointing conclusion to Batchelor’s 40-year tenure at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, during which she climbed the ranks from cleaner to ward manager. Her dedication was recognized in 2015 when she received a ‘Pride of Nursing Award’ in Birmingham.
Notably, Batchelor was often featured by the hospital in interviews, where she discussed her role and celebrated diversity. One such 13-minute video on the trust’s Instagram account has since been removed.
The senior nurse was also regularly trotted out by the hospital to speak about her work in interviews, including a 13-minute Instagram video posted on the trust’s account in which she celebrated diversity. It has since been deleted.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard Mrs Batchelor’s anti-immigrant posts began in August 2024 and included sharing an image of Arab men chasing a child with a knife.
Its caption said: ‘Next time when you pay your taxes, remember that some of your money goes to the “protection of Mosques”.’
Another post included a split image showing a boat filled with people arriving at the beach captioned ‘these give nothing and get everything’ and a homeless veteran captioned ‘these give everything and get nothing’.
A third post claimed to highlight a section of the Bible, stating: ‘Foreigners who live in your land will gain more and more power, while you gradually lose yours.’
It continued: ‘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 social media post had a split image showing a security inspection captioned ‘YOU AT THE AIRPORT’ and a man departing from a boat captioned ‘MUHAMMAD AT DOVER’.
In the same month, the Trust received a complaint from a member of the public about Mrs Batchelor’s social media, alleging that the posts were racially abusive.
An investigation was launched, and the posts on her Facebook account which targeted Muslims and immigrants to the United Kingdom were found.
During the investigation, the nurse admitted to making the posts and apologised.
Roberta Batchelor was stripped of her licence after a disciplinary panel concluded a series of her social media posts ‘sought to cause offence to immigrants…and those of Muslim faith’
The senior nurse was regularly trotted out by the hospital to speak about her work, including a 13-minute Instagram video posted by the trust in which she celebrated diversity
Mrs Batchelor said she was ‘disgusted’ with her own comments because she had relatives from ethnic minority backgrounds
Mrs Batchelor was found to have breached several rules in the NMC’s code, including treating people with kindness, respect and compassion, as well as avoiding expressing personal beliefs in an ‘inappropriate’ way.
The nurse agreed with the NMC that her social media posts amounted to serious misconduct.
She told the NMC that she was ‘disgusted’ with her own comments because she had relatives from ethnic minority backgrounds – and even asked them to remove her from nursing because she ‘shouldn’t have that privilege’.
The nurse 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.’
She added: ‘For my sanity I wish to be removed from nursing as I don’t feel I should have that privilege.’
In her interview with the trust which was posted on Instagram, Mrs Batchelor revealed her mother was born in Pakistan while her father came from Smethwick in Birmingham and she spent her early life living on military barracks around the world.
She continued: ‘I never heard any form of prejudice in my childhood, so I found it very difficult when I came to Birmingham to understand why people were the way they were towards other people and their cultures…people weren’t always accepting of who you were.’
The video ended with her saying: ‘Sometimes you can meet people in this trust that inspire you, regardless of colour or culture.’
In another previous interview about her work in 2016, Mrs Batchelor claimed to be ‘a member of Team GB during the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid’ when she ‘was in the speed-skating team, but came in last’.
Yet records from the 1980 Winter Olympics show no mention of anyone with her name participating in the competition, with Kim Ferran and Mandy Horsepool listed as the only women to represent Great Britain in speed-skating.
The NMC found that nurse’s apology did not constitute ‘serious reflection’ for her ‘racially motivated and discriminatory actions’, and agreed with Mrs Batchelor’s wish to be removed from nursing.
The NMC panel said: ‘This happened on several occasions and is evidence of deep-seated attitudinal issues.
‘Mrs 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 Mrs 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.’
