Fitness to practise (FtP)

Many students within the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health come into contact with patients and members of the public, who may often be vulnerable, when undertaking practical training as part of their study. Students who study on medical and healthcare programmes are required to demonstrate high standards of conduct and behaviour and must be physically and mentally fit to undertake the demands of their profession. Students are expected to use their judgement when applying the principles set down by professional regulators and be prepared to justify their decisions and actions.

The Faculty has a duty to ensure that those students are fit to practise and has established a procedure for dealing with student-related fitness to practise issues:

FBMH Fitness to Practise procedure 2024/25 academic year
Advice to Students
FBMH Fitness to Practise procedure (archived) (for cases pre-dating October 2024)

Further guidance on the Fitness to Practise Procedure:

Glossary of terms - fitness to practise, fitness for practice, support to study
FBMH Fitness to Practise guidance: Cooperation with medical assessments and disclosure of specialist reports (November 2023)
Handling Requests for Postponements to Fitness to Practise Hearings
MSC Privacy Policy (Excluded Students Database)

Raising concerns about Fitness to Practise

The early identification of professional behaviour and health concerns is key to supporting students. Programmes will have mechanisms for identifying and addressing low level professionalism issues. Should an issue raise concerns about the student’s fitness to practise then the student can be referred to a Concern Review Panel (CRP) for consideration. The CRP will independently review the referral and determine the most appropriate action (e.g., which may include further education and monitoring or referral to a School or Faculty-Level Fitness to Practise Committee - see Section 2 of the Fitness to Practise Procedure). Concerns can be raised by any member of staff by completing the CRP Referral Form. If a member of staff is completing a CRP Referral Form for the first time, or have any questions about how to raise concerns, they are advised to contact their School TLSE Coordinator for Fitness to Practise in the first instance.

The contact details for these are: med.ftp@manchester.ac.uk for the School of Medical Sciences and shs.appealsandconduct@manchester.ac.uk for the School of Health Sciences.

Escalating concerns to Faculty level

If the Concern Review Panel determine the case should be referred to Faculty, they should complete a Faculty Fitness to Practise Referral Form.

Temporary Fitness to Practise Suspensions (Section 4)

On rare occasions, it might be necessary to temporarily suspend a student whilst fitness to practise concerns are reviewed. Paragraph 4 of the Procedure allows for a student to be temporarily suspended, either fully or partially, as a precautionary measure (rather than as a sanction or penalty). This may happen for (or more) of the following reasons:

to protect a member or members of the University community
to protect the property of the University or of a member or members of the University
to protect the reputation of the University
to avoid the repetition of the circumstances which led to the allegation
to prevent any disadvantage to the suspended student (e.g. where bail conditions prevent the student’s presence on campus)
to ensure that any alleged victims or potential witnesses are not subject to interference
to prevent the student’s continued presence being a source of disruption to the University or any part thereof
to facilitate a proper investigation into the alleged misconduct.

The process via which Fitness to Practise initial concerns should be managed is detailed within the Process of Escalation for Concerns which may have FtP Implications. This process allows for concerns to be reported in a way which ensures the correct staff receive information in a timely manner and can ensure that a temporary suspension of a student is considered, processed, escalated and reviewed in accordance with the requirements of the Procedure.

A ‘Triage Team’ consisting of the Vice Dean for Teaching, Learning and Students (TLS), the Faculty FtP, Appeals Complaints and Discipline (ACD) Manager and the Programme Director who have the procedural and programme familiarity to a) decide whether a temporary suspension is necessary and b) disseminate information in managed and timely way to relevant stakeholders.

The workflow is underpinned by guidance documents that have been updated to reflect the proposed introduction of a Triage Team. The revised documents are as follows:

Medical Schools Council - Excluded Students Database

In the interests of patient and public safety, and to prevent fraudulent applications to courses which lead to entry to a registered profession in the UK, we share certain information provided in your application form with the Medical Schools Council participating Schools in order to verify your fitness to practise. If a fitness to practise outcome is made against you in the future, this information and a copy of the decision against you will also be securely stored on a central database operated by the Medical Schools Council. This database is accessible only to other Schools (further details can be found in the privacy policy). This database is used only for proper fitness to practise purposes to protect patients and the public, and to prevent fraudulent applications. The database involves the collection and processing of certain personal data about you and for further information about that and your rights in connection to this processing, you can review the Medical Schools Council's privacy policy relating to the excluded students database below.

Appendix 1 - Medical Schools Council Privacy Policy relating to excluded students