Aldwych Legal represented Sarah Holden, a physiotherapist practising in Manchester, after a patient raised a formal complaint about clinical conduct during treatment. The matter involved professional disciplinary proceedings before the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and related public law issues concerning procedural fairness.
What Happened
In January, a patient complained to Sarah’s employer and to the HCPC alleging inappropriate communication, deviation from an agreed treatment protocol and inadequate contemporaneous records. The employer carried out an internal review while the regulator opened a fitness to practise investigation.
The HCPC requested clinical notes, witness statements and a written response. The dual process — employer investigation and regulator inquiries — created concern that the practitioner might face sanctions affecting registration and practice.
Legal Issues
- Whether Sarah’s conduct breached HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and Standards of Proficiency.
- Whether contemporaneous record-keeping met professional and regulatory obligations (including aspects of the Data Protection Act where relevant to file handling).
- Whether the regulator’s investigation complied with public law requirements of fairness, transparency and proportionality; potential for judicial review if there were procedural defects.
- Potential sanctions under the HCPC regime: advice, conditions, suspension or removal from the register.
Our Approach
We conducted a detailed review of clinical notes, internal protocols and contemporaneous communications. We instructed an independent senior physiotherapist to provide an expert opinion on standard practice and prepared a clear chronology addressing each allegation.
Our team drafted a structured response to the HCPC, secured witness statements from colleagues, and represented Sarah at regulatory interviews. We raised points on procedural fairness where deadlines and access to evidence were restricted and engaged with the employer to align disciplinary steps with the regulator’s process.
Outcome
Following representations and the expert evidence we submitted, the HCPC concluded the allegations did not meet the threshold for misconduct. The case was closed with no sanction and Sarah’s registration remained intact.
The employer’s internal review likewise recorded no further action. We advised Sarah on improvements to record-keeping, communication notes and local protocols to reduce the risk of similar complaints in future.
Result / Why It Matters
This case demonstrates Aldwych Legal’s practical experience in defending healthcare professionals through regulatory and public law challenges, protecting practice rights and delivering proportionate, evidence-based outcomes.
