NMC charges

An exception to this rule is now allowed for when a hearing is held in private. A request for a private hearing was recently made during the case against Pauline Cafferkey, a nurse who had survived Ebola, faced NMC charges, but was then cleared of all misconduct allegations. In cases like this charges would not be made available until the case has concluded.
The NMC talking with the Nursing Times said it would “help to ensure fairness to all parties”, because charges could sometimes change by the time the hearing began.
The Nursing Times probed the NMC as to whether the decision had been made as a consequence of the recent well publicised case against Ms Cafferkey. A spokeswoman for the regulator replied to them that the changes in the disclosure of NMC charges were “something the NMC had been considering for a little while”.
“These changes will help to ensure fairness to all parties, as charges at pre-hearing stage may be subject to change,” added the spokeswoman.
”We will still publish details of each hearing, including the headline charge, a week ahead of the hearing taking place and we will provide a copy of the full charges once they have been confirmed on the day,” she said, in response to the Nursing Times.