According to the Professional Standards Authority, Fitness to Practise is ‘the process used by statutory professional regulators to handle complaints or deal with concerns made about health and care professionals on their registers’. Witnesses to misconduct can be called to give evidence in a Fitness to Practise investigation and hearing. A proportion of these will include patients, service users and colleagues who may have been significantly harmed by the registrant’s behaviour. Such cases may include behaviours associated with sexual abuse, harassment and bullying, theft and fraud, and lasting clinical harm. We know from the research in the criminal justice system that there is potential for additional trauma caused by the experience of being a witness. This evidence-based course provides learning about the Fitness to Practise process and being a witness.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- understand the role of professional regulators
- understand why people do or do not raise a concern about registrants of professional regulators
- understand the types of information available to people who are interested in raising a concern with a regulator
- explore the experiences of people who raise a concern with a regulator and those whose case is closed before a Fitness to Practise hearing
- explore the experiences of people who are required to be witnesses at a Fitness to Practise heading
- describe the ways in which regulators can improve the Fitness to Practise process based on research findings.
First Published: 06/08/2024
Updated: 06/08/2024