Step 1a: assess the impact of any new information
Assessing the impact of any new information available
- The tribunal should start by reviewing the reasons for the previous decision(s) to impose an interim order on the doctor’s registration, including why the type of interim order was imposed and for how long. This does not amount to a reconsideration of the previous decision(s), but it is necessary so that the tribunal can fully consider all the circumstances of the case and assess the impact of any new information that’s available.
- Where an interim order was imposed on the doctor’s registration during the early stages of the GMC’s investigation, evidence collection activities will have progressed, and new information is likely to be available. New information will be relevant to the tribunal’s decision where it can impact on their view of the seriousness of the concern or allegation and the likelihood of repetition. Where relevant, the tribunal should consider the weight of the new information available and decide what this means in terms of their assessment of the risk(s) associated with the concern or allegation.
- The GMC may have directed an early review on the basis they consider there is evidence to suggest the doctor has breached the interim order currently imposed on their registration. Where this is the case, to be able to assess the impact, the tribunal will first need to decide whether they are satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that a breach has in fact occurred.
- If the tribunal considers that a breach of the interim order has occurred, they should consider what risk, if any, this poses to the protection of the public, the interests of the public and/or interests of the doctor. This assessment should be made having regard to the seriousness of the breach and the reasons why an interim order was previously put in place.
- Some, or all, of the following factors are likely to be relevant to assessing the seriousness of a breach of an interim order and any associated risk:
- if the circumstances of the breach are a one-off or a repeated occurrence
- whether patient safety has been compromised
- if there appears to have been a wilful disregard of an interim order of conditions imposed on the doctor’s registration, and/or
- whether the doctor accepts a breach has occurred, the reasons for it and level of insight shown about the impact and likely consequences.