Mountford’s James Lloyd successfully defends midwife accused of lack of competence.

Midwife X’s fitness to practise was alleged by the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) to be impaired by reason of lack of competence following the midwife’s failure to complete a practice programme in mid-2018 and a number of allegations relating to errors in clinical procedures, record-keeping, and drugs errors.

During a two-week hearing before the NMC, following the cross-examination of a number of NMC witnesses and challenges to the manner in which the case had been presented by the Regulator, the majority of allegations were found not proven.

The Panel accepted James Lloyd’s submissions that on proper application of the law, the remaining charges could not demonstrate lack of competence, as they did not amount to a fair sample of work by which to gauge the Registrant’s conduct. The case therefore concluded with no finding of lack of competence or impairment, with Midwife X free to resume unrestricted practice after almost 4 years. James was instructed by Keith Sheppard of Thompsons Law.

James Lloyd is the Deputy Head of the Mountford Chambers Regulatory and Professional Discipline practice group. He recently spoke at our Autumn Seminar ‘Fitness to Practise Proceedings: Ten Top Tips,’ the recording of which can be found here.