Make lemonade from those lemons

3 months after lockdown first began, it is clear to see the negative effects on the work of all of the regulators.  Investigations, already conducted at what many may feel is a leisurely pace, have in many cases ground to a complete halt.  This is really difficult for practitioners, who are facing increased delay before they can get out from under the yoke of fitness to practice proceedings and get on with their personal and professional lives.  In defending such proceedings, with an awareness of why things are different, a different focus in tactics is required.  For example, there is no point in hammering the NMC about the rate of progress - far better to concentrate on putting together a sound defence so that when investigations pick up, you are ready and waiting to put your case across.

If you have a new referral, the regulators will be processing those, albeit more slowly than usual in most cases.  This is a really good opportunity to challenge the case against you, to prevent an investigation even getting off the ground.

I am still getting decisions on some cases, with a recent one this week being a no case to answer decision for a social worker accused of seriously injuring their partner.

So with everything that is going on, we can still spend our time wisely and make lemonade from those lemons!