All of a sudden, I have become terribly busy. It is as if the regulators, like a slumbering bear, have awoken from their winter hibernation. They are busy and now I am too.

Two hearings and two investigation reports in the past two weeks have shown again where it is important to get it right from the start.

This was a very interesting case, because the NMC got an interim conditions of practice order against the nurse, and this made it very difficult for her to find work as a nurse and thus remedy her failings.

It's tempting to give in to anger and frustration, but these negative emotions do not assist in achieving what you want, which is unrestricted practice. Instead put that energy into doing more to resolve your situation

When the order was imposed, they had attended unrepresented. At the beginning of this week, they decided they needed some help and contacted me.

The panel gave me quite a grilling in the absence of my client (often it is better that they do not attend for certain hearings, and send me instead).

A referral for possession of Class A drugs was successfully defended in both the Crown Court (I have colleagues who specialise in criminal court representation) and at the NMC, where the Case Examiners decided that there was no case to answer.

When you get struck off, this means you cannot work as a nurse or midwife, unless you succeed in an appeal or review, for at least 5 years. You’ll have to find some other way of paying your bills.