You only need to apply for restoration if you have been removed or struck off by a fitness to practise panel.
In order to be restored to our register you must be able to satisfy the restoration hearing panel that it can properly and safely do so.
Please note restoration is not the same as readmission.
If your registration has simply lapsed and there are no fitness to practise sanctions on your registration, you can apply for readmission.
Find out more about readmission to the register.
When you can apply for restoration
If you have been struck off or removed from our register by a fitness practise panel, you can only apply for restoration after five years from the date the striking-off order came into effect.
If you appealed against the striking off-order, and the appeal was not successful, the order will have come into effect on the date the appeal was dismissed by the relevant court.
How to apply for restoration to the register
Please complete the application form in full with as much information as possible to avoid delays.
By email
Email your completed form to registration.investigations@nmc-uk.org
By post
Alternatively you can send us your completed form by post:
Registrar and Appeals Support Team
Nursing and Midwifery Council
23 Portland Place
London
W1B 1PZ
What happens next?
Your case will be allocated to a new case officer who will send you a summary of the facts that were proved at the original hearing and that led to your striking-off or removal. This will usually happen within two weeks.
We will send the summary to the three referees listed in your application form and ask them to send a reference on your behalf.
Once your case officer receives all the necessary information, we will schedule a hearing based on your availability.
A Fitness to Practise Committee panel will hold a hearing to consider your application for restoration. This panel will only hear an application in person.
If you have any questions about the application procedure or the hearing, you should ask your case officer.
What the restoration panel does
The panel at your restoration hearing is bound by the findings and decision of the panel that struck you off. The restoration hearing is not an opportunity to argue against the findings of the original panel, or the severity of its decision.
Preparing for the hearing
The panel will want to discuss with you what happened in the past and what could happen in the future. The panel may ask you:
- What have you been doing since you were struck off?
- How do you feel about the incidents that led to your name being removed?
- How can you be sure something similar will not happen again?
- What would you like to do if your application is successful?
- How do you plan to get back into professional practice?
- What have you done to keep up to date with developments in the profession?
- Do you think you need professional updating? If so, how do you plan to get it?
Representation
You may bring a representative to help you deliver all the points you wish to make. You can choose anyone to be your representative – a barrister, solicitor, professional officer from your union or a friend. You should contact your representative as soon as possible to discuss your application before the hearing.
What to expect at the hearing
Fitness to practise hearings take place in public and journalists and members of the press are allowed to attend, unless there are private things to discuss, such as health concerns, which the panel will hear in private.
Who will be in the room?
The panel will be made up of registrant (that is, a nurse or a midwife) and lay members. A legal assessor will also be in the room to advise the panel on any legal points. An NMC officer will also be present to facilitate the hearing. Neither the legal assessor nor the NMC officer have any input into the panel’s decision.
A case presenter will represent the NMC.
How will the hearing run?
The chair of the panel will ask you to take an oath (or affirmation) that anything you say to the panel will be the truth.
The chair will ask you to confirm your name and former registration details. They will ask you:
- whether you have been convicted of any criminal offence since being struck off
- whether you are the subject of any criminal proceedings at the moment, and
- whether you have claimed to be a registered nurse, midwife or nursing associate since you knew you had been struck-off.
The case presenter will read a summary of the facts that lead to your striking-off, then the chair will ask you or your representative if you want to say anything to the panel. This is your opportunity to put forward your case for restoration to the register.
The NMC’s case presenter will ask you questions about your application, before handing over to the panel to ask you more questions.
Before the hearing ends, the chair will offer you a chance to make any final points in support of your application.
The panel will then retire in private to discuss your application and make its decision.
You will be called back into the room to hear the panel’s verdict, which will be confirmed to you in writing after the hearing.
Possible outcomes
The panel may:
- Refuse the application. You will not be able to make a further application for another year
- Grant the application subject to you satisfying requirements relating to additional education or training and experience. You will then need to complete the readmission process (which usually takes two to six weeks).
- Impose a conditions of practice order for up to three years which will come into effect once you have successfully completed the relevant education and training requirements and the readmission process.
More resources to help you
Read more about the restoration process in the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (SI 2002/253)
Please note: We will post the details of all successful restoration hearings on our website.
