Fitness to Practise
If you are studying a course that leads to professional registration such as Nursing, Medicine, pharmacy and others, there will be conduct, health and academic requirements. Fitness to Practise concerns can be raised in relation to any of these.
If you use social media, take care what you post as this could call into question an individual’s fitness to practise if the content is, or is perceived to be, inappropriate or offensive.
Disclosure of a Concern
If you are concerned about another student’s fitness to practise, you are obliged to disclose this to the University.
If you receive a police caution, warning, or criminal conviction, you must report this by emailing appeals@qub.ac.uk. You may also want to consider contacting your Personal Tutor to discuss this. If you fail to report any of the above, this may be seen as a breach of the Fitness to Practise regulations.
It is also your responsibility to report any health issues that may have an impact on your fitness to practise. If you have a health issue upon commencement of your programme or develop one during your studies, and this could pose a risk to your safety or others, you should make the University aware of this at the earliest opportunity.
Head of School Procedure
The concern should be reported, and it will then be referred to the Head of School (or nominee) who will consider the concerns raised and determine either:
- That the report and evidence raised does not present a fitness to practise concern and the concern is dismissed.
- That the report and evidence raised presents a low-level fitness to practise concern and the concern will be addressed via the low-level procedure.
- That the report and evidence raised presents a fitness to practise concern and will be investigated via the fitness to practise investigation procedure.
They will also decide at this stage whether Interim Measures should be put in place. Interim Measures can be reconsidered at any point in the process.
Low-Level Concerns Procedure
If deemed appropriate the issue can be dealt with informally via the School’s low-level concerns procedure. This is likely to require meeting School staff and agree behaviours going forward.
Investigation Procedure
The Head of School will appoint an Investigating Officer who will take the following actions:
They will contact the student in writing and outline:
- The details of the allegations
- The identity of the Investigating Officer
- Any suspension from practice or conditions placed upon the continuance of study
- Right to be accompanied
- Importance of ensuring that they understand the report requirements set out by their regulatory body.
Once they have conducted their investigation which will include interviewing the student, they will draft a report and recommend an one of the outcomes available under section 9.3 of the Fitness to Practise Regulations.
Fitness to Practise Panel
This shall be a University panel meeting made up of senior members of University staff and professionals. The panel will meet with the student and decide whether or not action is required. It should be noted that, at this stage, a student does have the right to bring legal representation to the panel meeting. The student should be aware that if they bring legal representation the University is likely to bring legal representation of their own.
The full list of outcomes available to the Fitness to Practise Panel can be found under section 10.2 of the regulations. These range from a written warning to expulsion from the programme.
Appealing a Fitness to Practise Panel Decision
It is possible for a student to appeal the outcome of a Fitness to Practise Panel under two grounds:
- Substantial new evidence has become available which was not available and could not be provided by the student for the Fitness to Practise Panel.
- There has been a procedural irregularity in the conduct of the Fitness to Practise Panel proceedings.
This panel can either:
- Dismiss the appeal
- Uphold the appeal in part (and provide a lesser sanction)
- Uphold the appeal in full (and rescind the sanction entirely)
If you need advice on Fitness to Practise and have been contacted about a concern, please do not hesitate to contact SU Advice by emailing su.advice@qub.ac.uk. An adviser will be happy to provide advice and guidance on the process.