2.1 Practicalities
Several regulators are based in London, although others are situated elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
Attending a hearing as a witness may mean travelling to the regulator’s head office and being available to be called to be cross-examined about the witness statement. Hearings usually run from 9am to 5pm which means witnesses have to travel to the regulator’s hearing centre and stay nearby while they are waiting to give evidence. This might mean staying overnight the day before the hearing to get there on time. Committees (or hearing panels) usually aim to hear from public witnesses in one day, but it is possible that they are asked to return the next day which might mean staying another night or returning the next day. If witnesses have to give evidence over more than one day or over a lunch break they remain under oath/affirmation and are not allowed to discuss the case with anyone else. Witnesses are given somewhere to wait in the regulator’s office. Regulators will usually cover travel expenses and overnight accommodation, but people will need to liaise with the regulator about claiming expenses and organising travel and accommodation.
Virtual hearings
Most hearings are now conducted online via software such as Microsoft Teams. Several regulators provided written information and instructions about how this will work and what the witness will need to do. However, for people who do not use this type of software or technology regularly, it can be a challenge. Even people who are confident in using this type of software can come across technical issues. For example, a regulator may want them to attend anonymously and some actions and settings need to be changed on the software to allow people to do this.
Activity: reflection point
Our focus group members felt that videos of the hearing room were useful in helping them understand what it would be like to attend a face-to-face hearing. Our research participants also felt that seeing the hearing room before anyone else was there helped to reassure them.
Watch the following video and consider whether you feel this is something you would want to prepare you for being a witness. The Medical Professional Tribunal Service (MPTS) manages Fitness to Practise cases where a concern has been raised about a doctor.
If you’d like to, make some notes in the text box below. Your notes will only be visible to you.
Video: A tour of the MPTS hearing centre [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
Discussion
Along with videos of the hearing room, our research participants also wanted to know about the practical aspects of attending a hearing. Some of these are outlined in Figure 2. Our analysis of regulator documents also found that regulators commonly provided this information.
Several regulators have virtual tours, videos or images of the hearing room. You are normally able to bring someone with you for support and they may be able to attend the hearing with you but not take part. You are not allowed to observe a hearing before you give evidence but can attend as member of the public afterwards, if the hearing is in public but any costs associated with this are not normally paid by the regulator.
Witness ‘work’
People (or their family members) who have raised concerns have often experienced poor treatment by health or social care professionals. Our research found that being a witness and reliving the bad experiences is not only stressful but involves a significant amount of unpaid work. Before a hearing it’s likely they raised the concern and have made statements. This includes recalling of the details of events and taking time to gather information required from them (such as letters or records) as part of the investigation. This work is often not recognised by those involved in the process. This work carries costs and consequences such as time, effort, energy and stress.
It also takes time for people to prepare for a hearing, reading through/remembering the facts in a witness statement to prepare for being questioned on this evidence. Some people had experience of travelling to a hearing, waiting, then not being called and being asked to attend on new dates. This can create more work for witnesses (e.g. financial, time away from work, organising childcare).