Inquests, performers list action and NHS disciplinary proceedings

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. Rule 22 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013 provides that no witness need answer a question tending to incriminate them, and the coroner must tell you that you may refuse. Good medical practice still requires you to cooperate, provide all relevant information, be open and honest and make clear the limits of your knowledge. What you say at an inquest can reach your employer, the GMC and, where a death raises a question of criminal liability, the police. If a police investigation is possible, take advice before you write your statement. Our guide to giving evidence at an inquest explains more.

A Regulation 28 report, also called a prevention of future deaths report, is a coroner's formal statement that something revealed by an inquest gives rise to a risk of other deaths and that someone should act. If you receive one, you must send the coroner a written response within 56 days of the date the coroner sent it. The response sets out any action taken or proposed, with a timetable, or explains why you propose none. The Chief Coroner may publish both. Our article on prevention of future deaths reports explains how to write it.

Maintaining High Professional Standards in the Modern NHS, known as MHPS, is the national framework NHS employers in England use for concerns about a doctor's or dentist's conduct, capability or health. The trust appoints a case manager and a case investigator. The investigator gathers the facts and reports on them, and the case manager then decides what happens next, which can include a disciplinary or capability hearing or a referral to the GMC. Under the framework, the investigator should complete the work within four weeks of appointment. Our guide to MHPS sets out your entitlements.

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. Before NHS England imposes conditions or removes you from the performers list, it must give you notice and 28 days to make representations or ask for an oral hearing. You can appeal a decision to impose or vary conditions, or to remove you, to the First-tier Tribunal within 28 days beginning with the date of notification. A removal does not take effect until that period expires or the tribunal decides the appeal. Suspension carries no appeal, but you can ask in writing for a review under regulation 16. Our guide to the performers list explains each route.