Fitness-to-practise: how UK healthcare regulators cause practitioner deaths
Open accessAbstract
Cases of practitioner ill-health and suicide have been attributed to disciplinary proceedings carried out by healthcare regulators. The methods operated by regulatory bodies when investigating claims of practitioner wrongdoing exhibit judicial irregularities and raise significant ethical concerns. Revealing how and where regulators fail to execute their fitness-to-practise responsibilities constructively creates a starting point from which fairer and safer systems of regulatory interventions can be considered. This paper is an analysis of how the regulatory establishment administers fitness-to-practise procedures, and endeavours to identify how existing approaches cause harm and undermine the integrity of regulatory oversight.
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Research from other international jurisdictions has found that regulated professionals involved in disciplinary processes have a higher risk of mental health issues and self-harm.
“For example, research from other international jurisdictions has found that regulated professionals involved in disciplinary processes have a higher risk of mental health issues and self-harm [231,232].”
From Nursing regulation in Canada: Insights from a scoping review (2025) · cites this paper as [232]
The ‘Humiliation and Psychiatric Illness’ section (page unavailable) says UK fitness-to-practise investigations raise practitioners’ risk of psychological distress and suicidal ideation, and reports serious psychiatric illness and some fatal outcomes. It does not establish the claim for other international jurisdictions; its discussion concerns UK healthcare regulators. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Cites
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Nursing regulation in Canada: Insights from a scoping review
Chiu, P., Thiessen, N. J., Idrees, S., Leslie, K., & Kung, J. Y. (2025) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0323716 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“For example, research from other international jurisdictions has found that regulated professionals involved in disciplinary processes have a higher risk of mental health issues and self-harm [231,232].”
Reflections on a Fitness to Practise journey
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- Authors
- Macqueen, D.
- Corresponding author
- Macqueen, Dominic
- Venue
- Journal of Controversial Ideas
- Published
- 2023-04-28
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1
- ISSN
- 2694-5991 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4367298777
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1
- FWCI
- 0.45
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Controversial Ideas (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Regulation
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Occupational and Professional Licensing Regulation
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues
- Keywords
- fitness to practise, health care regulation, disciplinary proceedings, regulatory oversight, regulatory failure, health professions regulation
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