Investigating your concern

Darllen yn Gymraeg

If the case moves onto the investigation stage, the screening team will pass on your concern to a member of our investigations team.

Someone will get in contact with you to introduce themselves as your investigator, give you their contact details and check if you have any other evidence you need to send to us.

How we investigate a concern

It's important to note that the investigation stage of our process is often the longest as we need to gather lots of evidence. However, your investigator will contact you at least once every four months to let you know what's happening and if there are any updates.

During an investigation, your investigator will:

• Collect evidence about your concern, such as medical records or CCTV footage, and may need to ask the nurse, midwife or nursing associate's employer for this.
• Contact you to find out more from you about what happened. We know recalling these events can be upsetting, so if you prefer not to talk about it, we're happy for you to email us.
• Speak to other witnesses over the phone and ask them if they would be happy to attend a hearing should this be needed.

Meet Ola, a member of our investigations team

What happens once we've finished our investigation

The investigator will write a report and put together a file of evidence. The evidence gathered during the investigation will help us decide if we need to hold a hearing that needs to be considered by an independent panel.

The investigator sends the evidence to the nurse, midwife or nursing associate and their professional representative if they have one. At this stage, by law, we have to give the nurse, midwife or nursing associate 28 days to comment on our findings and the evidence we have gathered.

After 28 days, two case examiners will examine the report, evidence and any comments we receive and decide what happens next.

It's important to keep in mind that only a small number of concerns raised with us result in a hearing and need to be considered by an independent panel. This is because we recognise that nurses, midwives or nursing associates sometimes make isolated mistakes, but this doesn't mean that their fitness to practise is impaired, especially if they and their employer have addressed it and taken steps to prevent it from happening again.