Quick round up of recent results - last week a 5 day NMC hearing ended on day 4 with a finding of no impairment; this week, another NMC case was concluded at screening stage with a no case to answer decision, and an early review of an interim suspension order imposed one month ago ended today with the panel revoking the order entirely, meaning my client has no interim restrictions.

The 5 day hearing was a health case involving alcohol dependency, in which the NMC produced expert evidence from two experts with differing opinions. I invited the panel to prefer the evidence of my client as to their current fitness to practice over that of the experts, and they agreed, finding that my client’s fitness to practice was not impaired.

The case concluded at screening stage was a sleeping on duty allegation. These are common and I advised my client to follow my usual protocol to deal with this, leading to a successful outcome.

The interim order review involved a client who had attended the original hearing at which she was suspended without representation. The suspension order had impacted her financially in a significant way and so she had asked for an early review of the order. Sensibly, she sought advice and representation, and today I was able to argue that the suspension was unjustified and ought to be revoked. The panel agreed.

A HCPC restoration hearing next week awaits…

[Further update: I recently advised a third year student nurse who had been removed from their course by their university in a student fitness to practice process. They had successfully appealed the decision with the help of another legal representative. That wasn’t the end of the matter, because although the decision to remove the student was set aside, the fitness to practice investigation started afresh and ended with a decision to refer the student back to a hearing in front of a new panel. The student came to me to advise on how to best present their case at the hearing, as no legal representatives were permitted to present the case in person. As a result of my advice, after the hearing this week, the student found they had retained their place on their course with a final warning. They were justifiably ecstatic!]