Sharon L Docherty
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Allegation
As a registered Physiotherapist (PH30244) your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of conviction and /or misconduct and and/or a health condition. In that:
1. On 7 October 2020 you were convicted at Wirral Magistrates’ Court of driving a motor vehicle namely KIA DG65 NYO on a road namely Telegraph Road, Heswall in the county of Merseyside after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in your breath, namely 75 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, exceeded the prescribed limit, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 and Schedule 2 to the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
2. On 14 July 2020 you treated a Service User having consumed alcohol
3. You have a physical and/or mental health condition as set out in Schedule A
4. The matter described in 2 above constitutes misconduct
5. By reason of your conviction and /or misconduct and/or a health condition your
fitness to practise is impaired.
Schedule A
1. [Redacted]
Finding
Preliminary Matters
Service
1. The Registrant did not appear and she was not represented. The Panel was satisfied that notice of the date and time of the hearing had been sent to the Registrant by email to her registered email address on 7 November 2023. The Panel was provided with a signed certificate as proof that the Notice of Hearing had been sent to the email address on the Register.
2. Accordingly, the Panel was satisfied that service of the Notice of Hearing had been carried out in accordance with the Rules.
Proceeding in absence
3. The Registrant informed the HCPC, by telephone on 29 November 2023, that she is now retired and did not wish to attend the hearing.
4. The Registrant was asked in a text message on 30 November 2023 whether she would like to apply for any adjournment or whether she was content for the hearing to proceed in her absence. She replied the same day stating, “Please proceed in my absence. Thank you, Sharon.”
5. On behalf of the HCPC, Ms Sampson applied for the hearing to proceed in the absence of the Registrant on the basis that she had been notified of the date, time and location of the hearing. Ms Sampson submitted that the Registrant had acknowledged that the hearing was taking place and that she had waived her right to appear by indicating that she was content for the hearing to proceed in her absence. Ms Sampson added that it was in the public interest for the hearing to proceed expeditiously so that the review is carried out before the Order expires.
6. Having considered the content of the HCPTS Practice Note on Proceeding in Absence and accepted the advice of the Legal Assessor on the case of GMC v Adeogba [2016] EWCA Civ 162, the Panel was satisfied that the Registrant had received notice of today’s hearing and had waived her right to appear. The Registrant had indicated that she did not wish to attend and that she did not wish to apply for an adjournment. There was no indication that she would attend at a later date if today’s hearing were to be adjourned and furthermore the Registrant had indicated that she had retired from practice as a Physiotherapist.
7. The Panel took into account the overriding public interest in dealing with reviews of substantive Orders before their expiry. The Panel acknowledged that there was potential unfairness to any Registrant in proceeding in their absence but determined that the statutory requirement to carry out this review before the Order expires outweighs any unfairness to the Registrant by proceeding in her absence. Accordingly, in balancing the Registrant’s interests with the public interest, the Panel determined that the matter should be heard in the absence of the Registrant. No adverse inference would be drawn from her non-attendance and the Panel would consider any documentary evidence within the papers that further her case.
Hearing in private
8. On behalf of the HCPC, Ms Sampson applied for the whole hearing to be conducted in private because the case related to the Registrant’s physical and mental health.
9. The Panel accepted the advice of the Legal Assessor that Rule 10(1)(a) of the Health and Care Professions Council (Health Committee) (Procedure) Rules 2003 permitted a hearing relating to the private life of the Registrant to be heard in private.
10. The Panel had in mind the principle that all hearings should be held in public whenever possible. The Panel concluded, however, that it would be impractical to conduct any part of this hearing in public because the state of the Registrant’s physical and mental health was integral to the issues in the case and to the Panel’s decision on the review of the Substantive Order. The Panel therefore concluded that the entirety of the hearing should be held in private in order to protect the private life of the Registrant.
Order
The Registrar is directed to suspend the registration of Ms Sharon L Docherty for a further period of 12 months on the expiry of the existing Order.
Notes
The Order imposed today will apply from 12 January 2024.
This Order will be reviewed again before its expiry on 12 January 2025.
Hearing History
History of Hearings for Sharon L Docherty
| Date | Panel | Hearing type | Outcomes / Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13/12/2023 | Health Committee | Review Hearing | Suspended |
| 14/12/2022 | Health Committee | Final Hearing | Suspended |