In this guide
Allegations
Back to topOne of our key statutory functions is to investigate allegations about the fitness to practise of nurses, midwives and nursing associates, or their entry in the register. Fitness to practise allegations involve us alleging that the nurse, midwife or nursing associate’s fitness to practise is ‘impaired’.
For this reason, when we first assess, investigate, and when our case examiners consider ‘allegations’, we define ‘allegation’ as meaning simply an allegation to the effect that the nurse, midwife or nursing associate’s fitness to practise is impaired.
Regulatory concerns
Back to topDuring the early stages of a case we draft regulatory concerns to express what appears to have happened in a particular case, and why this set of facts justifies us intervening in the nurse, midwife or nursing associate’s practice.
Charges
Back to topA charge only comes into existence when we send the nurse, midwife or nursing associate notice of their final hearing or meeting before the Fitness to Practise Committee.
Before then, if we any refer to a charge, we mean a ‘draft charge’.
The notice of a substantive hearing will contain a charge ‘particularising’ (or setting out) the alleged facts on which the allegation of impaired fitness to practise is based.
The charge is the public statement of the basis on which we are saying the nurse, midwife or nursing associate’s fitness to practise is impaired.
It will allege that the nurse, midwife or nursing associate’s fitness to practise is impaired because of one or more of the following (as set out in our legislation):
- misconduct
- lack of competence
- a conviction or caution
- health
- not having the necessary knowledge of English
- a determination by another health or social care organisation.
So, the meaning of ‘charge’ within our rules is:
- an assertion that a nurse, midwife or nursing associate’s fitness to practise is impaired, making particular reference to one of the kinds of impairment from our Order (for example, ‘your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your lack of competence’); and
- the schedule of alleged facts which we send together with a notice of hearing, which ‘particularises’ the allegation of impaired fitness to practise.
Additionally, in everyday language, people taking part in Fitness to Practise Committee hearings will often refer to one or more of the individual ‘alleged facts’ within a schedule of charge as ‘charge 1’, ‘charge 6(a)(ii)’, and so on.
- Download
- Email Page
- Last Updated: 12/10/2018
The guidance in our library, needs to be read alongside our NMC Guidance during the Covid-19 emergency period. We have new rules that are in force during the period of the coronavirus emergency that are relevant to how it applies.
Want to download and print whole sections of this FtP library? Visit the downloads page.
FtP library
-
Understanding Fitness to Practise
- Aims and principles for fitness to practise
- Allegations we consider
- How we determine seriousness
- Why we screen cases
- When we use interim orders
- Investigations
- Examining cases
- How we manage cases
- Meetings and hearings
- Resolving cases by agreement
- What sanctions are and when we might use them
- Remediation and insight
-
Screening
-
The four stages of our screening decision
- The four stages of our screening decision - overview
- Stage one: Determine if the concern is serious enough to affect fitness to practise
- Stage two: Check it meets our formal requirements
- Stage three: Check whether we can obtain credible evidence
- Stage four: Check for evidence of remediation
- Cases not referred for further investigation
- Determining the regulatory concern
- Screening incorrect or fraudulent entry cases
-
The four stages of our screening decision
- Interim Orders
- Investigations
- Case Examiners
- Preparing for the FtP Committee
-
Case management
- Hearing fitness to practise allegations together
- Telephone conferences
- Preliminary meetings
- Dealing with cases at hearings or meetings
- Voluntary removal
- Cancelling hearings
- Constitution of panels
- Proceeding with hearings when the nurse, midwife or nursing associate is absent
- Case management during hearings
- Hearings in private and in public
- When we postpone or adjourn hearings
- FtP Committee decision making
- Sanctions
-
Reviews
- Reviewing case examiner decisions
- Interim order reviews
-
Substantive order reviews
- Substantive order reviews - overview
- Standard reviews before expiry
- Early review
- Exceptional cases: changing orders with immediate effect at a standard review
- Review of striking-off orders
- New allegations
- Reviewing orders when there may have been a breach
- Reviews where an interim order is in place
- Allowing orders to expire when a nurse or midwife’s registration will lapse
- Appeals and restoration