Fitness to practise defence for nurses, dentists, pharmacists and every other healthcare profession

Yes. Eloquia acts before the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Dental Council and the General Pharmaceutical Council. We also act before the Health and Care Professions Council, the General Optical Council, the General Osteopathic Council and the General Chiropractic Council. Before the GMC, we act for physician associates and anaesthesia associates. The fixed fee terms match those 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 we have not named your regulator, tell us which one has written to you.

NMC case examiners decide whether there is a realistic possibility of two findings by the Fitness to Practise Committee. The first is that the incidents happened or the issue is still present. The second is that your fitness to practise is currently impaired. They do not decide whose account is true. With no case to answer they can close the case, give advice or issue a warning. With a case to answer they can recommend undertakings or refer you to the committee. Because the test asks about impairment now, evidence of what you have done since belongs before them. Our article on nurses, midwives and the NMC explains each stage.

You have 28 days to appeal a final substantive order. Time runs from the day after the date on the letter telling you the outcome. The appeal goes to the High Court in England and Wales or in Northern Ireland, or to the Court of Session in Scotland. Only in exceptional circumstances does the court extend the time. The Professional Standards Authority also reviews every final decision. It has a further 40 days, starting on the last day of your appeal period, to appeal a decision it considers insufficient to protect the public. Our article on the NMC covers sanctions and appeals.

The GDC runs its process in four stages: initial assessment, assessment, case examiners and hearings. A pair of case examiners decides, one lay and one a dentist or dental care professional. They ask whether there is a real prospect that a committee will find the allegation proved and impairment shown. A hearing then takes place before one of three Practice Committees, chosen by the nature of the concern. Assessment is where the time goes, averaging 78 working weeks in 2025. The Interim Orders Committee can act at any stage. Our article on dentists and the GDC explains the differences.

They are the tests the GPhC applies at the end of an investigation. The registrar applies them before referring a case to the Investigating Committee. The evidence must suggest one of four things about your conduct or performance. It presents an actual or potential risk to patient or public safety, or it undermines confidence in the pharmacy professions. Alternatively, it involves a serious or persistent failure to meet the standards, or it means others can no longer rely on your honesty or integrity. The referral must also be in the public interest. If the registrar does not refer it, the case closes. Our article on pharmacists and the GPhC sets out the criteria in full.

Nine regulators have made a joint statement, among them the GMC, the GDC, the NMC, the GPhC and the HCPC. In it they commit not to ask registrants for their personal written reflections to investigate a concern. You can still choose to offer them as evidence of insight, and that decision is yours. Reflections are not subject to legal privilege, so a court may still request them. Take advice before you put reflective evidence forward or disclose it to anyone who asks. Our article on reflective practice after Bawa-Garba explains the commitment.