Sharon J Byrne

Preliminary matters

1. At the outset of the hearing, the Chair confirmed that the Panel had been provided with the following documentation:
   1. Hearing bundle 315 pages;
   2. Service bundle 5 pages;
   3. Ms Byrne’s written statement 179 pages;
   4. Ms Byrne’s response statement 28 pages.

Application for the hearing to be heard in private

2. Dr Danti, appearing on behalf of the HCPC, invited the Panel to conduct the hearing in private. She submitted that the conduct of the hearing required repeated and numerous references to matters which relate to Ms Byrne’s private and family life. The right to respect for any persons private and family life is strongly though not absolutely protected under the European Convention of Human Rights, Article 8. Dr Danti said that the entire case considered those matters, and were so closely interwoven in the narrative, that it was not practical to separate out the elements that might be regarded as legitimately to the public (‘in public’) from those that were private. An attempt to do so would result in an unmanageable and fragmented presentation that would be unfair to Ms Byrne.
3. Mr Nwokedi supported Dr Danti’s application.

Panel approach

4. The Panel accepted the Legal Assessor’s advice and based its decision in Rule 10 of the Conduct and Competence Procedure Rules 2003 (the Rules). The Panel also had regard to the HCPTS Practice Note Conducting Hearings in Private and it had regard to the parties’ submissions. The Panel also carefully considered the public interest grounds in the case being heard in public.

Panel decision in respect of privacy application

5. Having considered Dr Danti’s application, the Panel was satisfied that the matters pertaining to Ms Byrne’s private and family life should be heard in private to maintain respect for Ms Byrne’s right to a private life. The Panel was satisfied, having read the papers, and considered the matter carefully, that:

• Ms Byrne may suffer disproportionate harm if it did not conduct the hearing wholly in private
• the Panel agreed that it would be very difficult to separate out private and public matters, and that
• the efficient and fair management of the hearing would be imperilled by proceeding only partly in private. Proceedings may become unmanageably fragmented and risk procedural unfairness to both parties

6. The Panel therefore decided that the whole hearing would be conducted in private.

ORDER: The Registrar is directed to annotate the HCPC Register to show that, for 18 months from the date that this Order takes effect ("the Operative Date"), you, Sharon Byrne, must comply with the following conditions of practice:

Education and training requirements

1. Within six months of the Operative Date you must:

1. satisfactorily complete the following four courses

1. Conflict of Interest
2. duty of candour
3. professional boundaries
4. probity and ethics

B. forward a copy of your results to the HCPC within seven days of receiving them.

C. you must undertake separate reflective pieces on each course attended to demonstrate how you will apply the learning to your practice and describe any identified risks of not doing so.

Informing the HCPC and others

2. You must inform the HCPC within seven days if you cease to be employed by your current employer.
3. You must inform the HCPC within seven days if you take up any other or further professional work.
4. You must inform the HCPC within seven days if you take up work requiring registration with a professional body outside the United Kingdom.
5. You must inform the HCPC within seven days of returning to practise in the United Kingdom.
6. You must inform the HCPC within seven days of becoming aware of:
   1. any patient safety incident you are involved in;
   2. any investigation started against you; and
   3. any disciplinary proceedings taken against you.
7. You must inform the following parties that your registration is subject to these conditions:
   1. any organisation or person employing or contracting with you to undertake professional work;
   2. any agency you are registered with or apply to be registered with to undertake professional work (at the time of application);
   3. any prospective employer for professional work (at the time of your application);
   4. any organisation through which you are undertaking professional training;
8. You must allow the HCPC to share, as necessary, details about your performance, compliance with, and/or progress under these conditions with:
   1. any organisation or person employing or contracting with you to undertake professional work;
   2. any agency you are registered with or apply to be registered with to undertake professional work (at the time of application);
   3. any prospective employer for professional work (at the time of your application);
   4. any organisation through which you are undertaking professional training;

Personal development

9. You must work with professional mentor to formulate a Personal Development Plan. Your mentor must have access to the Panel’s full decision on your fitness to practice which they must keep confidential.

In the PDP you must address your dishonesty in the context highlighted by the panel (your unwillingness to accept decisions that are personal and not complimentary to you and the apparent creation of your own narrative to justify that denial)

Once signed off by your mentor, you should write a reflective piece on:

• what you have learned
• the impact of your dishonesty has had or could have had on the public, profession and service users
• What you have done and will do in the future to mitigate against this type of behaviour occurring in the future and thereby reducing the risk of repetition

10. Within six months of the Operative Date you must forward a copy of your Personal Development Plan to the HCPC.
11. You must meet with your mentor on a monthly basis to consider your progress towards achieving the aims set out in your Personal Development Plan.
12. You must allow your mentor to provide information to the HCPC about your progress towards achieving the aims set out in your Personal Development Plan.
13. Your reflective practice profile must be signed off by your designated mentor, who should provide feedback on your progress.

Costs, approvals etc.

14. You will be responsible for meeting any and all costs associated with complying with these conditions.
15. Any condition requiring you to [provide any information to] [obtain the approval of] the HCPC is to be met by you [sending the information to the offices of the HCPC, marked for the attention of] [obtaining written approval from] the relevant Case Manager.

Right of Appeal:

You may appeal to the High Court in England and Wales against the Panel’s decision and the order it has made against you.

Under Article 29 (10) of the Health Professions Order 2001, any appeal must be made within 28 days of the date when this notice is served on you. The Panel’s order will not take effect until the appeal period has expired or, if you appeal, until that appeal is disposed of or withdrawn.

Interim Order:

Interim Order Application

Application by the HCPC:

1. Dr Danti made an application for the imposition of an Interim Order. Dr Danti pointed out that the primary order would not take effect for at least 28 days and the public would not be protected by any order until then. If an appeal were to be made by Ms Byrne, the primary order would not come into effect until that appeal had been withdrawn of otherwise disposed of.
2. Dr Danti said that the factors in favour of an interim order being imposed were:

• Notice of the Panel’s powers to impose an interim order had been given to Ms Byrne in the service documents, served on her on 30 September 2024;
• There is a necessity for an order in circumstances where a conditions of practice order had been imposed for reasons of public protection;
• There was cogent evidence that service users and the public were at continuing risk of harm in the absence of an interim order being imposed, pending the primary order coming into effect;
• An interim order was also necessary for reasons of maintaining the public’s trust and confidence in the Occupational Therapy profession;
• It was proportionate to impose an interim order as it related only to the period prior to the primary order coming into effect.

Submissions on behalf of Ms Byrne

3. Mr Nwokedi on behalf of Ms Byrne did not oppose an interim order being imposed today.

Decision on an Interim Order:

4. The Panel accepted the advice of the Legal Assessor and took into account the guidance as set out in the HCPTS Practice Note Interim Orders last updated in September 2024. In particular the Panel had regard to the section relating to interim orders imposed at final hearings after a sanction has been imposed.
5. The Panel was satisfied that Ms Byrne had been warned in the Notice of Hearing, dated 30 September 2024, that there was a real prospect that an Interim Order application would be made by HCPC, should a substantive finding be made by the Panel.
6. The Panel makes an Interim Conditions of Practice Order, in the same terms as the primary order, for a period of 18 months under Article 31(2) of the Health Professions Order 2001. The Panel concluded that an interim order was necessary for the protection of the public and was also necessary in the public interest. Substantive findings in relation to Ms Byrne’s dishonesty, among other things, had been made. A primary order had been made that it was necessary to impose conditions of practice against Ms Byrne in order to protect the public. The public would be placed at an unacceptable risk in these circumstances if no order were to be in place pending the determination of any appeal.
7. For the same reasons given in its determination on sanction, the Panel concluded that an Interim Conditions of Practice Order would be appropriate. The Panel therefore determined that an eighteen-month Interim Conditions of Practice Order is appropriate and proportionate pending the expiration of an appeal period.

Interim Suspension Order:

The Panel makes an Interim Suspension Order under Article 31(2) of the Health Professions Order 2001, the same being necessary to protect members of the public and being otherwise in the public interest.

This order will expire:

1. (if no appeal is made against the Panel’s decision and Order) upon the expiry of the period during which such an appeal could be made;
2. (if an appeal is made against the Panel’s decision and Order) upon the final determination of that appeal.

The maximum length of this order is 18 months.

History of Hearings for Sharon J Byrne