Fitness to practise appeals

The most serious cases fitness to practise cases are referred to formal hearings in front of fitness to practise panels or committees.

We review every final decision made by the regulators' fitness to practise panels. If we decide the decisions do not protect the public properly we can refer them to Court to be considered by a judge. Our power to do this comes from section 29 of the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002. This is why we sometimes refer to this part of our oversight as 'our section 29' work.

Read cases we have considered recently, see which cases we have appealed and find out about previous cases below:

Read about recent cases we have considered

Recent cases

The regulators send us all of the decisions made by their final fitness to practise panels. If we are  concerned about their decision we hold a case meeting with our lawyers to decide whether to refer the case to Court. Read more

Cases appealed

Where we believe that a final fitness to practise decision is not sufficient to protect the public, we can appeal the regulators' decisions. Read about cases we have appealed, see copies of judgments and Consent Orders. Read more

Previous cases

Use this section to find out about past cases. Read more

Fitness to practise - legislation currently in effect

The NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 has been amended since it was first introduced so for ease of reference we have produced an unofficial consolidated text version, which shows the legislation currently in effect. This incorporates all the amendments made to the Act up to 5 January 2016 from the General Medical Council (Fitness to Practise and Over-arching Objective), the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (References to Court) Order 2015, and the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015. Please note, this consolidated version is an internal working document produced by our solicitors which has no official status. Users should consult an official version of the legislation for the purpose of interpreting and applying the law. The original versions of the legislation can be found on the legislation.gov website.

Regulation of Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates

From December 2024, we will be able to review other types of decisions in relation to physician associates and anaesthesia associates.