Blog
Keeping the peace at Christmas – top tips for shared parenting over the festive season
Lauren Evans
11 May 2016
How the General Dental Council deals with complaints against Dental Practitioners
Most dentists’ experience of the General Dental Council (GDC) is limited to obtaining and maintaining their professional registration. But for around 400 dentists per year, the experience is a more serious, potentially career threatening, one. This is because they have been subject to a complaint and find themselves involved in a GDC fitness to practice investigation. Going through such an investigation can be a distressing and lonely experience. Here we attempt to de-shroud some of the mystery behind what happens when the GDC receives a complaint about a dentist’s fitness to practice and what the process actually entails.
2 December 2015
Be silent and be ignored
The recent investigation of nurses’ failings at Brithdir care home provides lessons for others facing regulatory review, says regulatory lawyer Lucy Williams.
On 21 August 2015, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) concluded its 81 day hearing into failings at Brithdir Care Home, the subject of the UK's biggest inquiry to date into alleged neglect.
This article was first published on Nursing Older People magazine.
24 November 2015
Case update: High Court terminates immediate suspension order imposed by the General Dental Council
Davey v General Dental Council, Queen’s Bench Division [2015 WL 6757832]
Judgement date: 08 October 2015
In this case, Mr Davey made an application to the Queen’s Bench Division to remove or overturn the immediate suspension order made by the Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) of the General Dental Council (GDC) restricting his right to practise.
2 November 2015
What standards and behaviour are expected of health and care professional students? HCPC Consultation on revised guidance for students
In October, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) launched a consultation seeking the views of their stakeholders on their draft revised guidance on conduct and ethics for students.
The HCPC regulates 16 professions including paramedics, practitioner psychologists and social workers in England.
20 October 2015
Case update: High Court confirms ‘moral opprobrium’ is part of test for determining unacceptable professional conduct as Osteopath’s appeal is dismissed and admonishment sanction stands
Shaw v General Osteopathic Council [2015] EWHC 2721 (Admin)
Mr. Shaw (“S”), appealed to the High Court, against the decision of the Professional Conduct Committee of the General Osteopathic Council ("the panel") on 29 January 2015. The panel admonished S for unacceptable professional conduct, pursuant to section 20(2) under the Osteopaths Act 1993 ("the Act"), and found "conduct which falls short of the standard required of a registered osteopath”. The sanction of Admonishment is the least serious penalty that can be imposed upon registered osteopaths. Other sanctions available were conditions of practice, suspension and the most serious, removal from the register.
S‘s appeal was against the panel’s decision in relation to the finding of unacceptable professional conduct and that this decision was wrong, and therefore no sanction should have followed.