Witness to harm, holding to account: Improving patient, family and colleague witnesses’ experiences of Fitness to Practise proceedings

The “Witness to harm, holding to account: Improving patient, family and colleague witnesses’ experiences of Fitness to Practise proceedings” project studies the experience of witnesses who give evidence in professional conduct hearings about care provided by health and social care professionals.

Led by The Open University with colleagues from Manchester Metropolitan University and the Universities of Oxford, Glasgow and Edinburgh, the project will explore the experience of witnesses involved in Fitness to Practise (FtP) proceedings in several of the UK’s health and social care regulators, with a particular focus on cases where there are allegations of harm caused. It aims to find out what support witnesses expect, what they receive and what they need, and will explore and identify current best practise and potential improvements to how the public engages with FtP processes, and lead to workable recommendations and supportive resources for the public, professional bodies, employers and regulators.

Annie Sorbie, Lecturer in Law (Medical Law and Ethics) at Edinburgh Law School, is co-investigator on the project and will work with the project team to provide novel insights into the experiences of witnesses. These findings will be used to create resources and guidance that enable people to be better supported when they provide evidence.

The project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).