Training & Knowledge: October 2021

28th Oct 2021Newsletters

Creeping unfairness and remote hearings at the General Dental Council

At the start of the pandemic almost 19 months ago, there was an urgency to keep the wheels of justice moving and for cases to continue to be heard if at all possible. Technology, regulators, practitioners and registrants all rose to the challenge and within weeks of the order to work from home, interim order […]

28th Oct 2021Newsletters

Complainant Bad Character in Disciplinary Proceedings

Arowojolu v General Medical Council [2021] WL 04751428 It is commonplace, especially in cases involving sexual misconduct, for the accused registrant to assert that the complainant made the whole thing up – either for specific reasons, or because that is the sort of thing they do. In that context evidence that the complainant has previously […]

28th Oct 2021Newsletters

An end to non-professional professional misconduct?

Frensham v Financial Conduct Authority [2021] UKUT 0222 (TCC) In December last year I wrote about the High Court’s decision in Beckwith v SRA; where the High Court gave a clear warning to regulators about the need to specifically address why a transgression arising in a professional’s private life breaches their professional code of conduct […]

28th Oct 2021Newsletters

Joy Dove v HM Assistant Coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool [2021] EWHC 2511 (Admin)

Facts The deceased, Jodey Whiting, had a history of back pain and mental ill health, including previous overdoses. She died as the result of an overdose of prescription medication. At the inquest into her death, the Coroner heard evidence that Ms Whiting had been suffering from severe stress in the period leading to her death. […]

28th Oct 2021Newsletters

Maintaining High Professional Standards: Procedural fairness and categorisation

Kamath v Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWHC 2811 (QB) When representing a doctor facing MHPS proceedings, the Case Manager’s decision as to how to categorise the case is critical. Following receipt of the investigation, (s)he must decide: are the concerns best considered as conduct or as capability issues? That decision, of course, […]