What to expect from us if you raise a concern

During an investigation we do not take the side of either the registrant or the person who raised the concerns.

We assign a case manager to each case. Their role is to manage the case throughout the process and to gather relevant information. The case manager acts as a contact for everyone involved in the case and will keep you up to date with the progress of the investigation. They cannot give you legal advice but they can explain how the process works, what information we require and what panels might consider when making decisions.

We may need to contact you during an investigation to ask for more information about the concerns you have raised.

If the case goes forward to a final hearing we may ask you to provide a witness statement. We will pass your contact details to our solicitors so they can contact you directly. You may also have to go to a hearing and give evidence. You can find more information about final hearings and what this might involve here.

Keeping your information confidential

When we investigate a case we need to tell the registrant involved. We will also need to tell them who raised the concern and provide them with a copy of any information you may have sent to us. This is so that the registrant can respond to the concerns raised. We will make sure that we remove your contact details and other personal information from any documents before they are disclosed to the registrant.

We are not usually able to take forward a concern that is raised anonymously, or where the complainant wishes to remain anonymous. This is because we want to operate a fair and clear process and we cannot ask for further information from the complainant if we do not know who has contacted us. However, as our main function is to protect the public, where the concerns raised are serious we may decide that it is in the public interest for us to investigate, even where the complainant is anonymous.

How long the investigation will take

We try to complete our investigations as quickly and efficiently as possible.

We aim to:

• Have a case considered by the Investigating Committee within eight months of receipt of a concern (if the concern meets our threshold); and
• Hold a final hearing within nine months of the Investigating Committee Panel’s decision that there is a case to answer.

While these are our aims, the time a case takes to reach the end of the process can vary depending on how complicated the issues. This will affect the type of investigation we need to carry out. Each stage of the process may take a shorter or longer period of time.

Your case manager will write to you regularly to keep you informed of the progress of the case.

Reasonable adjustments

We recognise that the fitness to practise process can be a stressful experience. We aim for our processes to be fair and inclusive, and appreciate that everyone has different needs.

If you require any adjustments for example to the format of documents (such as braille, enlarged print or electronic formats) or to address specific learning difficulties or health issues, please inform your case manager as soon as possible.