Fitness to Practise

Regulation G29.12 specifies that students may be represented by a member of the College, a representative from the Students' Union, or a member of the student's professional organisation.  

It is important to note that students are expected to speak during the hearing; typically, individuals accompanying them are not permitted to speak on their behalf. However, a Student Advisor will speak when deemed necessary. 

Permission to bring a solicitor must be obtained from the Chair of the FtP Committee before the hearing. Please note that the Chair is not obligated to permit the student to bring a legal representative and will do so at their own discretion. 

If you cannot attend your hearing, you should inform the FtP administrator as soon as possible. You can find the administrator's details in the invitation letter you received. 

Hearings are only rescheduled for valid reasons, such as health issues or medical appointments that cannot be rearranged. 

It would also be helpful if you could provide evidence explaining why you cannot attend and need to reschedule. The committee expects students to prioritise the hearing whenever possible. 

If the Faculty has not granted permission to reschedule the hearing, it will proceed as scheduled in your absence. You will receive your outcome via email within 7 days of the hearing date. 

Although hearings can seem very scary, the committee members are professional and respectful in their approach. They understand the difficulty that students can face during the hearing, such as nerves. If they can see that a student is very distressed they will often offer them ‘time out’ to gather their thoughts, or time to speak with anyone who they have chosen to bring to the hearing.  

As stated above, we can also attend the hearing with you and help you prepare for it. This always works well for students who are anxious, as you will get time to discuss things with your advisor before you go into the hearing, and do some ‘last minute’ preparations.  

Being prepared for the hearing can also alleviate anxiety and nerves. 

Introductions will take place first and you will then be asked to provide an explanation as to why to why you have been brought to a hearing. This will be followed by questions from each of the committee members to help them understand why the particular event happened and what your view on the situation is. Students should attempt to answer all questions asked as best as they can.  

In hearings students are expected to:  

• Show a deep level of understanding about how the particular event that unfolded led to an FtP hearing  
• Take responsibility for their actions that caused them to breach the NMC code  
• Express how the particular event compromised risk and/or any health and safety issues  
• Express what they have learnt from the situation  
• Express genuine remorse for your actions  
• Express what they can do better moving forward  
• Express what led them to making the decisions that they did at that particular time 

Students are advised to follow the ‘Gibbs reflective cycle’ when writing their reflective statement. This is because following this process means that students can show a high level of reflection and enables them to learn from the experience, which in turn can enhance the student’s growth and development in their chosen field and can prevent the situation from happening again.  

It’s also very important that for the committee to determine that the student understands why they have been brought to a FtP meeting, what they could have done differently, and what actions they can take in the future to prevent it happening again. The Gibbs reflective cycle will help the student to express that.  

As mentioned above, we can advise you how to write the statement as well as giving reviews. 

Students cannot be removed from their programme at the internal (Faculty FtP) stage. However, there is chance a student could be removed from their programme if they get referred to a College Fitness to Practise hearing. (Please see the next question as well.) 

In a faculty-level FtP hearing you can expect one of the following outcomes: 

• Action agreed through committee discussion - they will get conditions (actions) that they will need to take or complete, they could be invited back to a review and expected to have completed those actions. If they have been completed successfully their FtP is no longer under dispute and it is the end of the matter.  

• Referral to College level fitness to practise committee – This is when the committee at faculty level don’t feel that the student is fit to practise and therefore they have to refer it to the college to make a decision. If a student gets this outcome another hearing will take place at college level and the student could be taken off the programme.  

• No further action – The student is deemed fit to practise and there are no action plans that need to met 

You will receive the outcome via email within seven days. However, in certain cases, the outcome may be communicated on the day of the hearing. At the end of the hearing, the student will be directed to the waiting area while the committee deliberates. Once the deliberation is complete, the student will be invited back into the room to receive the outcome in person. 

A student has the right to appeal the outcome of their faculty Fitness to Practise (FtP) hearing. To initiate this process, the student must submit their appeal within 14 days of receiving the decision. The case will then be escalated to a college-level FtP hearing for further consideration. 

There are additional penalties that available at a College FtP  hearing, including removal from the programme. However, a student is more likely to face a more severe penalty if they bring aggregating factors to the hearing. 

Failure to adhere to your action plan may result in the scheduling of an additional faculty FTP hearing to assess the reasons for your noncompliance. Additionally, failing to meet action plans can increase the risk of being referred to a College level FtP hearing, which may result in your removal from the course.