Based on a FOI request, and court costs observed in 2018 – these hearing costs were worked out on the rates given below:
| 3 day FtP hearing (part 1 ) – panel costs | £4,380 |
| Case presenter | £7,245 (adjourned to part 2) |
| 4 day FtP hearing (part 2) – panel costs | £7,300 |
| Case presenter | £12,075 |
Total cost |
£31,000 |
This nurse wanted to conclude her case before she voluntarily removed herself from the register. She had already retired from practice. Currently the NMC will not allow a registrant to voluntarily remove themselves until a case has concluded
One could ask, why put yourself through the trauma of a case if you don’t plan on working in the profession at the end of it? Many of us feel the same – when we are sure we have done no harm and the allegations are vexatious we are passionate about ensuring we clear our name. She wished to retire with a clean record and was determined to do so.
The case faced numerous delays before it even came to hearing and even more when the hearing was then scheduled. It was adjourned due to their one and only witness – the referrer – not wanting to engage.
By the time the second date of the hearing has come about a SAR request by the registrant had shown that the witness had indeed told the NMC they had no intention of continuing with the process, many weeks beforehand. The NMC stated that they wanted to continue to try to get her to engage. The registrant argued that this was unfair and did not safeguard trauma against her in any way.
Whilst it is understood that referrals from a member of the public will be taken extremely seriously and need proper and thorough examination we would urge the NMC to ensure they balance this with harm or potential harm to the registrant. We also encourage the NMC to ensure there is a realistic chance of engagement by the key witness and timeframes set so that if engagement is not secured, the case is closed through lack of evidence.
This case has brought up lots of questions about the FtP process which the registrant is following up separately.
If you believe that registrants, as well as referrers, should be equally safeguarded during cases – please sign our petition.