We wish to assure all clients that we are functioning as normal. We are, and have been for some time, fully prepared for remote working and we continue to welcome new enquiries as well as remaining wholly committed to the matters of all our current clients.

Covid-19 will, inevitably, impact the whole legal and regulatory system though. Tribunals and courts are already making changes and no one can predict how cases will proceed, except to state the obvious, which is that there will be delays.

MPTS Cases:

We announced earlier this week that the MPTS have made the decision to stop all new tribunals until July. This may well change though and we will, of course, be monitoring the situation closely. All clients clients with hearings scheduled for the next few months will be contacted shortly.The current indication from the MPTS is that they intend to manage Review or Interim Orders hearings remotely.

The GMC however will likely continue unaffected.

NMC Cases:

As yet, the NMC have yet to make any formal announcement however, they have cancelled most hearings listed in the coming weeks.

HCPC and Other Regulators:

The HCPC and other regulators again have made no formal announcement, although any listed hearings are likely to be subject to cancellation.

Overall position

Whilst we do not want to be overly pessimistic, we believe it is safe to assume that most, if not all cases will be subject to significant delays. During these uncertain times, please be assured that our clients’ best interests remain at the very heart of our service and we will keep you updated as and when further advice or information becomes available.

In the meantime, please keep safe and follow relevant public safety guidance.

with warm wishes

Stephen McCaffrey & Catherine Stock