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When faced with a fitness to practise investigation, should health care professionals “wait and see” or does constructive engagement make a difference?

A brief overview of the NMC’s fitness to practice investigation process and what nurses can expect if they are subject to an investigation.

If a concern is deemed serious & credible, the NMC will open an investigation, including consideration of early admissions.

In this article, we will look at the restoration application process and things healthcare professionals should know when considering a restoration application.

Guidance must not be “slavishly” followed, and regulatory decisions must be made based on the individual merits of the case – High Court.

Any criminal conviction will be viewed as proven in a fitness to practise case and attempts at denial could be interpreted as lack insight.

Nurses can avoid the anxiety and cost of a full fitness to practise hearing through consensual panel determinations but care should be taken when deciding the best route to take.

Specialist legal advice will assist nurses with advice on insight and evidence of Strengthened Practice, but early engagement is essential.

The NMC is “taking a different approach” to requests from nurses to be removed from the register when they are subject to fitness to practise concerns – ‘agreed removal’.

Impairment is defined in the present tense, and key to this is insight and remediation. Seeking legal advice at the earliest opportunity is important.

We look at the types of NMC entries, when an entry might be considered fraudulent and the powers available to the NMC.

The Department for Health and Social Care has published its response to proposals to reform fitness to practise in the UK.

Fitness to practise investigations are traumatic experiences. We never lose sight of the human aspects of fitness to practise investigations and hearings.

What are the differences between a NMC hearing and meeting, and what are the implication of both for a nurse or midwife?

During a NMC investigation, nurses have an opportunity to respond to enquiries and this could influence the outcome of the investigation but it is essential that legal advice is sought at an early stage.