Police interview or criminal allegation about your clinical work

No. A voluntary interview is still an interview under caution. The police record all of it, and they can use anything you say in evidence. Code C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 is clear on the point. Arranging an interview on a voluntary basis does not diminish the rights and safeguards that apply to it. You may leave at will unless arrested, and you are entitled to free and independent legal advice. Do not give an informal account by telephone or at work, and do not attend without advice. Our guide to interview under caution sets out your rights.

That depends on what the police disclose and on the state of the clinical evidence, so decide with your representative after disclosure, never in the corridor beforehand. You can answer questions, hand in a prepared statement or decline to comment. Silence is your right, but under section 34 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 a court or jury may draw such inferences as appear proper if you later rely on a fact you did not mention. The decision also takes into account the effect on your GMC position. Our guide to interview under caution explains the choice.

Yes. Paragraph 99 of Good medical practice requires you to tell the GMC without delay if you accept a caution, are charged with a criminal offence or are found guilty of one, wherever in the world it happens. Without delay means as soon as the event happens. The GMC treats accepting a caution as formally admitting the offence. Its guidance for case examiners sets a presumption of referral to a tribunal for cautions. In some cases, though, a warning will be the proportionate response. Take advice before you accept a caution. Our guide to what you must tell the GMC lists every reportable event.

An arrest or a police interview on its own is not on the GMC's list of events you must report. That does not mean the GMC will not hear of it. The GMC's reporting guidance tells you to follow your employer's own reporting rules, which can set a wider duty. Under Common Law Police Disclosure, the main trigger for the police to consider telling an employer or regulator is arrest, or voluntary interview as a suspect, for a recordable offence. So assume the GMC will read your interview one day. Our guide to criminal convictions and cautions explains the duty.

For gross negligence manslaughter, most do. The Williams review of 2018 reported CPS figures for cases involving healthcare professionals since 2013. Of the 135 cases decided by then, 128 ended without a prosecution, about 95 per cent. A study of cases referred to the CPS Special Crime Unit between 2007 and early 2018 found that about 6 per cent led to a prosecution. These figures cover gross negligence manslaughter only, and Eloquia has found no published national figure for other offences. Our article on how often police investigations end without charge sets out the studies.

Eloquia's criminal defence partner firm represents you at the police station. Eloquia is not a law firm, so advice at the police station and in any criminal proceedings comes through that regulated firm. Eloquia works alongside the partner from the start and runs the GMC side, so one strategy covers both cases. Police interview and pre charge representations cost £15,000 plus VAT, including a specialist barrister involved from the outset, and we quote expert fees separately. If you face a charge, the partner firm quotes for the criminal proceedings in writing before any work begins. Our guide to interview under caution explains how we work. The police interview and pre charge fee is the criminal defence partner firm's fee for its own work. It is agreed with that firm and paid to it, and Eloquia takes no share of it and pays nothing for the introduction.