Questions doctors ask about GMC, police and NHS cases

The GMC triages it first. The Registrar asks four questions. Is the doctor on the register? Is there a legal basis for assessing fitness to practise? Would the information be serious enough if proven? And is there any reason not to investigate? Most concerns close at this point. In 2025 the GMC triaged 13,465 concerns, closed 12,146 at triage and opened 997 formal investigations. While a concern sits at triage, the GMC does not tell you or your employer about it. Our guide to what happens when the GMC receives a concern explains each step.

A Rule 7 letter is the letter the GMC's Registrar sends near the end of an investigation. It takes its name from rule 7 of the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004. The letter sets out the allegation, encloses the documents the GMC holds in support and invites your written representations within 28 days of its date. It must also tell you that the GMC may disclose your representations to the person who raised the concern for comment. Your response then goes to two case examiners, one medical and one lay. Our guide to writing a Rule 7 response explains what persuades them.

An interim orders tribunal decides whether to restrict your registration while the GMC investigates. Under section 41A of the Medical Act 1983 it can impose conditions or suspend you. It does so where that is necessary to protect the public, otherwise in the public interest or in your own interests. It does not make findings of fact or decide impairment, and it cannot accept undertakings. In 2025 tribunals reached 350 outcomes, imposing conditions in 229, suspending in 55 and making no order in 66. An order can last up to 18 months, with a review within six months. Our guide to interim orders tribunals explains how to prepare.

The GMC does not ask doctors for reflective notes in order to investigate a concern. Under the MPTS guidance, neither the GMC nor a tribunal can require you to hand over reflective notes produced for your professional development. Whether you offer evidence of insight, and in what form, is your decision. The limit lies with the courts. Recorded reflections are not subject to legal privilege, so a court may request disclosure if it considers them relevant. Write about what you learned rather than the full story of the event. Our article on reflective practice after Bawa-Garba sets out the position.

No. Representation before the GMC and the MPTS is not a reserved legal activity. So Eloquia can act for you from the first letter to the tribunal's decision. Eloquia is a legal consultancy, not a law firm, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority does not regulate it. Saqib Khan, a former solicitor who sat as a fee paid judge of the County Court for more than four years, leads every matter. Some work needs a regulated firm. A High Court appeal runs through a regulated law firm Eloquia works with. Police station work runs through its criminal defence partner firm. A specialist barrister works on your case from the outset.

You have 28 days. Section 40 of the Medical Act 1983 lets you appeal a direction for erasure, suspension or conditions. You must bring the appeal within 28 days beginning with the date of service of the decision on you. That day counts as the first. In England and Wales the appeal goes to the High Court. A warning is not on the list of decisions you can appeal this way. Eloquia runs appeals through a regulated law firm it works with and stays involved throughout. Our guide to appealing a tribunal decision covers the grounds.

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.

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.

An interested person is someone with formal rights at an inquest. Section 47 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 includes a person who may by any act or omission have caused or contributed to the death. So a doctor whose treatment is under scrutiny is likely to qualify. The status is not a finding that you did anything wrong. It gives you disclosure of documents the coroner holds under rule 13 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013, and the right to examine witnesses under rule 19. Our guide to interested person status explains how to use it.

No NHS body in England may exclude you for more than four weeks at a time. The case manager must review the exclusion before each four week period ends. If nobody reviews it, it lapses and you are entitled to return. An immediate exclusion lasts no more than two weeks. MHPS treats exclusion as a precautionary measure, not a sanction. It says there should normally be a maximum of six months' exclusion, except in cases involving a criminal investigation. Exclusion should usually be on full pay. Our guide to exclusion from work sets out your rights.

Yes. Eloquia acts before the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Dental Council, the General Pharmaceutical Council, the Health and Care Professions Council, the General Optical Council, the General Osteopathic Council and the General Chiropractic Council, and for physician associates and anaesthesia associates before the GMC. The fixed fee terms are the same as for doctors. Our pages for each profession set out each regulator's process. Each regulator has its own rules, but cases follow the same pattern. The pattern is screening, investigation, your response and a decision by case examiners or a committee. In some cases a hearing follows. We quote a fixed fee for each stage before it starts, stated plus VAT. Each fee includes a specialist barrister from the outset, and we quote expert fees separately. If your regulator is not listed, tell us which one has written to you.

Eloquia charges a fixed fee for each stage, every one stated plus VAT. A response at triage costs £2,500 plus VAT and a GMC investigation to Rule 7 costs £9,500 plus VAT. An interim orders tribunal costs £4,500 plus VAT for each hearing. A tribunal hearing costs £8,000 plus VAT for preparation, then £4,000 plus VAT for each hearing day. A High Court appeal costs £25,000 plus VAT. Each fee includes a specialist barrister from the outset, and we quote expert fees separately. Our article on fixed fees in regulatory defence explains the menu.

You pay for your case one stage at a time, against the fee menu. Before each stage begins we confirm in writing what it covers and what it costs, and you then decide whether to go ahead. If your case closes at triage or at Rule 7, you pay nothing for the stages that did not happen. We do not act on conditional fee agreements, so our fee does not depend on the outcome. Our guide to how staged pricing works explains the approach.

Eloquia accepts staged payment, so you pay for each stage of your case before it begins rather than for the whole case in advance. We are also developing a fee funding facility and a defence costs insurance product with insurance and finance partners. Details will follow. Our guide to how staged pricing works explains the payment model.

Saqib Khan leads every matter, and you deal with the same people at every stage. Saqib is a former solicitor who qualified 19 years ago. He founded and ran his own law firm for 14 years. For more than four years he also sat as a fee paid judge of the County Court. A specialist barrister works on your case alongside him from the outset. Your first conversation may be with Eloquia's AI assistant. It says at the start that it is an AI assistant, gives no legal advice and takes your details for Saqib. You can ask at any point to deal with Saqib instead. Read about Saqib.

Yes. Everything you tell us about your matter is confidential, and the duty continues after the matter ends. We do not confirm to anyone, including your employer, your colleagues or the regulator, that we act for you unless you agree or the proceedings require it. Your employer, defence organisation or insurer sees nothing unless you instruct us to share it. We do not promise that legal professional privilege attaches to every communication. So where privilege matters, as in a police investigation, we route the advice through the regulated firm or the criminal defence partner. Our page on trust and confidentiality explains more.