Natalie Bird makes a successful submission of no case to answer at the NMC

Natalie Bird successfully advanced a submission of no case to answer, at a 10-day NMC fitness to practise investigation, on behalf of her client: a nurse who faced five charges of misconduct relating to her oversight of domiciliary care relating to two patients with complex care needs, over four years’ ago.

At the outset of the hearing the Registrant nurse admitted two of the charges. At the conclusion of the NMC’s case at the fact-finding stage, Natalie submitted that there was no case to answer on the facts (under Rule 24(7)) in respect of two of the denied charges, and that there was no prospect of the Registrant nurse’s fitness to practise being found impaired on any or all of the charges (under Rule 24(8)), even taking into account the charges which had been admitted. On Day 9 of the listing, the Committee returned to announce that Natalie’s submissions would be acceded to in full, bringing matters to a positive conclusion for her client nurse.

“Half-time submissions” are far less common in regulatory hearings than in jury trials, even more so when they address issues going to impairment rather than just the facts – it is considered rare for them to be made on both fronts, and exceptional if they succeed in full.

Natalie was instructed by Anahita Syed of the Royal College of Nursing.