Mrs Shirley Munro

Preliminary Matters
Privacy application

1. Ms Khorassani, appearing on behalf of the HCPC, made an application for the parts of the hearing pertaining to the Registrant’s health and family life to be conducted in private. Ms Khorassani submitted that reference would be made to the Registrant’s health and family circumstances as part of the voluntary removal application and the Registrant would suffer disproportionate damage if the Panel did not convene the hearing in private when considering these aspects of the case. Ms Khorassani also submitted that it would be feasible to move between public and private session and for this reason the Panel should conduct parts of the hearing in private.

2. Mr Munro, the Registrant’s husband, appeared on behalf of the Registrant. He submitted that he was in agreement with Ms Khorassani’s application for parts of the hearing to be conducted in private.

3. The Panel accepted the Legal Assessor’s advice which had, amongst other things, drawn its attention to the following:

i. proceedings should be held in public unless the Panel is satisfied that, in the interests of justice or for the protection of the private life of the Registrant, the complainant, or any person giving evidence, the public should be excluded from all or part of the hearing;

ii. the decision to sit in private may relate to all or part of the hearing; and

iii. Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (‘HCPTS’) Practice Note on ‘Conducting Hearings in Private’.

4. The Panel had regard to Ms Khorassani’s submissions and the nature and circumstances of the case. Given that matters pertaining to the Registrant’s health and private family life would inevitably be raised during the course of the proceedings, the Panel considered that the Registrant would suffer disproportionate damage if it conducted the hearing in public. The Panel therefore ordered that the parts of the hearing relating to the Registrant’s health and family life should be conducted in private. In doing so, the Panel was satisfied that it would be feasible to move between public and private session.

Background

5. The Registrant is a Speech and Language Therapist.

6. At the material time, the Registrant was a Clinical Specialist and Service Lead for school age children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), working as part of the Speech and Language Therapy Community Children’s Team at South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, herein after “the Trust” where she had worked for 27 years, commencing the most recent role in April 2016 at a Band 8a level.

7. On 01 July 2016, the HCPC received a referral from the Registrant’s employer. They notified the HCPC that the Registrant was being reviewed under the Trust’s capability procedure due to ongoing concerns about her performance.

8. In 2016 there had been some concerns raised in relation to the Registrant’s clinical practice which resulted to her being subject to a capability action plan. The action plan was signed off on 21 December 2016, citing significant progress. In addition to this, it was alleged that in March 2017 and April 2017, the Registrant had failed to carry out her clinical duties in relation to three children in particular, which had resulted in complaints from the children’s parents. Furthermore, the Trust was concerned that the Registrant was failing to provide appropriate care for a high proportion of children on her caseload and this constituted a risk. Concerns were also raised about the Registrant inappropriately storing a large number of children’s files at her home. The Trust conducted a review of the Registrant’s files which brought to light the concerns that were put before the Panel.

9. On 13 August 2021, the Substantive Hearing concluded, having found the aforementioned Allegation and particulars proved and the Substantive Hearing panel imposed a Conditions of Practice Order on the Registrant for 3 years.

10. On 13 August 2024, a Substantive Review Hearing was held and that panel imposed a Suspension Order on the Registrant for 12 months.

11. At the hearing on 13 August 2024, the Registrant stated that they had not practised for many years and did not wish to return to the Speech and Language therapy profession. The Registrant also expressed that they would like to voluntarily be removed from the Register.

Voluntary removal application

12. Ms Khorassani drew the Panel’s attention to the background of the case and the HCPC’s skeleton argument and, in summary, submitted the following:

i. voluntary removal from the HCPC Register would be an appropriate means of resolving the matter;

ii. the Registrant has no desire to practise as a Speech and Language Therapist in the future and has ceased working in 2018;

iii. the Registrant admits that her fitness to practise remains impaired by reason of the Allegation set out in Schedule A of the Voluntary Removal Agreement;

iv. voluntary removal adequately protects the public because the Registrant would be removed from the HCPC register and would not be able to seek to return to work within a period of five years. At this point she would need to demonstrate that she had fully remediated her failing; and

v. voluntary removal is not detrimental to the wider public interest.

13. Ms Khorassani further submitted that the Voluntary Removal Agreement was an appropriate and expeditious way of dealing with this matter and the HCPC invited the Panel to approve the proposed agreement.
Registrant

14. Mr Munro submitted the following on behalf of the Registrant:

i. A Strike-off Order is a “heavy blow”, having served in the profession for over 30 years and a removal from the HCPC Register is more palatable to the Registrant;

ii. The Registrant is not intending to return to any work, let alone the Speech and Language profession;

iii. The Registrant invites the Panel to approve this application for voluntary removal.

Decision

15. The Panel accepted the Legal Assessor’s advice which included, but was not limited to:

i. reminding the Panel that the process of disposing of a case by way of consent is an extra-statutory means of concluding a matter and before agreeing to such a course the Panel has to be certain that by adopting this process there is the appropriate level of public protection and that there is no overriding public interest in this matter proceeding to a further substantive order review hearing;

ii. Article 11(3) of the 2001 Order and Rule 12(3) of the Health and Care Professions Council (Registration and Fees) Rules 2003 prevents a Registrant from seeking to resign from the Register whilst the registrant is the subject of an Allegation. This being the case the Panel would, if agreeing to this matter being dealt with in this way, be required to agree to a discontinuance of proceedings.

iii. the HCPCTS Guidance titled ‘Disposal of cases by consent’ issued by the Council states:
“In cases where the HCPC is satisfied that it would be adequately protecting the public if the Registrant was permitted to resign from the Register it may enter into a Voluntary Removal Agreement allowing the Registrant to do so, but on similar terms to those which would apply if the Registrant had been struck off.”

iv. if the Panel is not satisfied that the above criteria have been met it appreciates that it has the ability to reject the application and allow the matter to proceed to a further review hearing.

16. The Panel had sight of all of the documentation presented to it, which included HCPC skeleton argument (7 pages) and the HCPC Voluntary Removal bundle (119 pages), in addition to having regard to the submissions of the parties’ and the correspondence between them.

17. Having carefully considered the material presented to it, the Panel noted the points made by Mr Munro on the Registrant’s behalf. Namely, that: the Registrant has requested to be removed from the HCPC register; she has no intention of returning to any form of work, she is not in a position to return to a working environment.

18. It was clear to the Panel, particularly from the Registrant’s most recent submissions to it (outlined in full above), that the Registrant has reached a decision that her health and family circumstances, outweigh her ability to return to the profession and accordingly she wishes to bring matters to a conclusion by removing herself from the HCPC register. The Panel therefore concluded that it does not consider that the matters raised in this case are such that a further substantive review hearing is warranted.

19. Having regard to the nature and circumstances in this case, the Panel is satisfied that the Voluntary Removal Agreement will provide continued service user protection in that the Registrant will not be able to practise.

20. The Panel also considered that the wider public interest has been appropriately dealt with and would not be affected by this matter not being publicly scrutinised at a further substantive review hearing. The Panel was of the view that the acceptance of a measure equivalent to strike-off will not be seen by the public as the Registrant being afforded with an easy way to leave past events behind her. The Registrant’s practice has been subjected to rigorous scrutiny by the HCPC as her regulator and her conduct has been the subject of a substantive hearing, a previous review hearing and subsequent orders (Conditions of Practice for three years and a Suspension Order for a further twelve-month period) and proceedings have been ongoing for in excess of four years. The Panel also noted that should the Registrant wish to return to the HCPC Register, then she will also have several requirements to fulfil before being able to regain registration in the future.

21. The Panel concluded that in all the circumstances of this case the approval of the proposed Voluntary Removal Agreement is the proportionate and appropriate course of action in this matter.

22. The Panel notes the terms of the Voluntary Removal Agreement that is before it and the fact that it has been signed by both parties. Accordingly, the Chair of the Panel has, on behalf of the Panel, signed and dated the attached Notice of Withdrawal, which will take effect as per the terms as outlined in the agreed and signed documentation.

ORDER: The Registrar is directed to remove the name of Mrs Shirley A Munro from the Register with immediate effect.

No notes available

History of Hearings for Mrs Shirley Munro