Blog
The Care Quality Commission’s Bid to Progress
Shannett Thompson
Healthcare professionals work in various settings and specialties and work incredibly hard to provide patients with high-quality, compassionate, and focused care. Complaints against healthcare professionals are on the rise; allegations of poor practice or misconduct can devastate a practitioner’s confidence, reputation, and career, and that is where we can help.
As one of the leading healthcare regulatory teams in the country, we have decades of experience in the field. We are independently recognised specialists in healthcare regulation. Clients come to us to obtain specialist legal advice when a complaint threatens their ability to continue practising.
We provide pragmatic and holistic advice, which considers our clients’ needs from a range of perspectives.
Our regulatory team defends health professionals from across the sector, including:
- Chiropractors, before General Chiropractic Council (GCC)
- Counsellors, before the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
- Doctors, before the General Medical Council (GMC)
- Osteopaths, before the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC)
- Nurses, before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)
- All professions, before the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
- Psychoanalysts, before the British Psychoanalytical Council (BPC)
- Psychotherapists, before the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
Dealing with a fitness to practice investigation
Many of our clients fear that an investigation by their regulator will inexorably damage their career or their reputation. This need not be the case. Considered engagement with the regulatory investigation is crucial in achieving the best possible outcome. We have a proven track record of having investigations closed in the early stages, limiting the impact, professionally and personally, on the professionals concerned.
Complaints often have a number of dimensions to them; professionals sometimes face parallel criminal, employer and regulatory investigations, as well as having to deal with the glare of the press. Our clients benefit from our close working relationships with our specialist criminal, employment and reputation management lawyers. Knowing that your legal team is looking at your problem from all angles is reassuring, as well as saving time and money.
Recent work
We have assisted clients with a wide variety of issues, including:
- A nurse alleged by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to have dishonestly worked bank shifts whilst on sick leave from their employer
- A student nurse refused registration by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) due to previous criminal convictions
- A doctor facing proceedings brought by the General Medical Council (GMC) relating to their drafting of a substandard expert report
- A doctor alleged by the General Medical Council (GMC) to have failed in providing care to a patient on a cruise ship
- Representing a psychotherapist in an Inquest in which it was alleged that the treatment provided was ineffective
- Acting for a psychoanalyst in successfully defending allegations of professional misconduct brought by the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)
The team working on my case was first-rate: they gave lightning-fast responses and possessed unparalleled expert knowledge of my profession, its regulatory bodies and the law relating to professional discipline"
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession
They are obviously very strong in the field of professional regulation"
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession
They understand that there are risks in everything one does and we work together in mitigating the risks"
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession
The lawyers are able to present cases to an exceptional standard, in terms of both advocacy and legal principles"
Chambers UK, A Client's Guide to the UK Legal Profession
