Care home nurse struck off after dismissing resident's birthday cake
Rossitsa Petkova was found guilty of misconduct, by a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel and banned from the profession
Last updated 8th Sep 2026
A care home nurse has been struck off, after claiming a resident with dementia would not need a birthday cake, because they would not remember it was their birthday.
Rossitsa Petkova was found guilty of misconduct, by a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel and banned from the profession.
Ms Petkova had told a fellow member of staff the resident would not remember it was their birthday and suggested they could eat the cake instead.
The incident took place at Castleford House Nursing Home, in Chepstow, Gloucestershire, where she had worked as a registered nurse for more than a decade.
The panel found a total of eight allegations proven, including the comment about the birthday cake, and also found she had shouted at residents to “shut up”.
She told one resident that if they did not eat their dinner, their daughter would not be able to visit them and told another it was their fault, after they apologised for dropping a beaker.
It was also found that Ms Petkova shouted at a colleague, after they gave a resident marmalade on toast.
Ms Petkova denied all the allegations, between January and October 2023 at the nursing home.
The NMC judgment highlighted a statement from kitchen assistant, Melanie Corfield, who described the conversation with Ms Petkova about the birthday cake.
“He was in bed, so I asked Rossi what she would like me to do with the cake," she said.
“She told me that I have to remember he doesn’t have capacity, that he wouldn’t even know it was his birthday and to pretty much not make a big thing of it.
“I replied, ‘It’s not the fact that he hasn’t got capacity, this is his birthday. And to me, everybody deserves a birthday, dementia or not, so we will get one of the girls to take it up’ and Rossi said, ‘Or if not, we can eat the cake’.”
Ms Petkova denied making the comments about the cake and suggested that colleagues “felt they had a clear run into the office, to make pointless and childish complaints, particularly about me”.
The NMC panel said the residents involved were older and vulnerable.
In its judgment, the panel said the nurse had displayed a “reprehensible and dismissive attitude towards the NMC as regulator during these proceedings”.
“The panel found that Ms Petkova displayed a deep-seated attitude of being dismissive towards all clinical and caring concerns, attempting to place the blame onto others, and being disparaging towards junior colleagues”, they found.
They said Ms Petkova had shown a “deep-seated attitude that is entrenched and therefore more difficult to remediate” and had provided no evidence of insight, remorse or strengthening of practice.
“The panel found that Ms Petkova’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 considered that the public expect their family members to be well cared for if they need to enter a residential care home and that Ms Petkova’s actions of abuse and wide-ranging disregard for the wellbeing of the vulnerable patients in her care would fundamentally damage public confidence in the profession.
“The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Ms Petkova’s actions were serious and to allow her to continue practising would not protect the public and would significantly undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.
“Balancing all of these factors and after taking into account all the evidence before it during this case, the panel determined that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking-off order.”
She has the right of appeal.