Today’s hearing was one before the General Pharmaceutical Council, or GPhC for short. My client had represented themselves at a final hearing last year, and the outcome then was a 12 month conditions of practice order, due to expire this August. The order was subject to a review before it ended, and that review took place in today’s hearing. I was instructed very late on this hearing, but there was at least sufficient time to work with the client to compile a bundle of documents and to prepare them to give oral evidence. Although this was my first GPhC hearing, it had a familiar feel to it. Substantive order reviews such as this, have similar formats across the regulators, and indeed the fitness to practice rules themselves are often similarly worded. In addition, some familiar names were involved. I have a select few colleagues on whom I can call to cover cases that I cannot: one of them had conducted part of the final hearing, and another was my opponent today!

The hearing went very well for my client and the result, again, was familiar - no current impairment, which means in a couple of weeks, the conditions of practice order will expire and my client will return to unrestricted practice.

The panel remarked on the quality of my client’s bundle and their oral evidence, which was a testament to the way they quickly absorbed my advice and to their undoubted passion for their profession.

I wish them all the very best!