Consultation on improvements to our Fitness to Practise process
We are consulting on changes to our rules that govern our Fitness to Practise process
It is important that we hear your views before our Council make their decisions in the Spring 2026.
We are consulting on changes to the rules that govern our Fitness to Practise process.
As part of our journey to build a new NMC, we are delivering steady improvements including:
- An increase in the rolling average of cases being resolved within our target of 15 months – up from 60.8% in July 2023 to 71.6% in August 2025
- A record number of decisions being made at screening, bringing the caseload at the initial assessment stage of the process below 2,000 for the first time in five years (1,983 in July 2025).
We are more than 18 months into our Fitness to Practise Plan which has also achieved positive change across safeguarding and in our approach to adjudications.
We are proposing these improvements to our rules now, ahead of more wide-ranging reforms proposed by the UK Government, who we’ll be working with over the next few years to modernise our legal framework – making our Fitness to Practise process more timely and less adversarial.
We have created this consultation document (Cymraeg) which sets out all the changes we are proposing to our rules. We highly recommend reading this, along with the draft rules, before responding to the consultation.
The changes we are proposing to make to the rules in Fitness to Practise
The changes we would like to make to Fitness to Practise rules would mean we can:
- Appoint legally qualified chairs to practice committee panels
- Strengthen our case management powers
- Share information via a digital platform or online account
- Create flexibility in our process for when we invite representations and give notice of hearings and meetings
- Provide better support for vulnerable witnesses giving evidence in our proceedings.
We believe these changes would help make Fitness to Practise faster and fairer.
How to take part in this consultation
We'd like to hear you your views on the proposed changes.
This consultation is open for 12 weeks from 3 November 2025 to 26 January 2026 and should take around 15 minutes to complete.
If you can’t submit your response using the online survey, please contact us at consultations@nmc-uk.org for an alternative format.
Supporting improvements to our Fitness to Practise process
This document sets out our policy proposals and the draft changes to our rules
Read moreDraft rules
Draft Rules Amendment Order
Keeling Schedule
This document shows how the affected rules will look if the amendments are made
Frequently asked questions
Commonly asked questions about the proposed changes to our rules
Consultation Easy read
Easy reads are designed for people with learning disabilities but can be helpful for others who find reading difficult. It is a format that uses pictures and simple words to make information easier to read.
Dogfen ymgynghoriad ar Ffitrwydd i Ymarfer
Mae’r ddogfen hon yn nodi ein cynigion polisi a’r newidiadau drafft i’n rheolau.
Ymgynghoriad rheolau Ffitrwydd i Ymarfer – Darlleniad hawdd
Mae darlleniadau hawdd wedi’u cynllunio ar gyfer pobl ag anableddau dysgu ond gallant hefyd fod yn ddefnyddiol i eraill sy’n cael trafferth darllen. Fformat yw hwn sy’n defnyddio lluniau a geiriau syml i wneud gwybodaeth yn haws i’w darllen.
