Case management: directions, forms and preparing the ground before your hearing

Case management is how your regulator organises a fitness to practise case for hearing: setting directions and deadlines, narrowing the issues, agreeing facts and witnesses, and fixing the timetable in advance. Handled well — through case conferences, preliminary meetings and case management forms — it shortens your hearing and creates real tactical opportunities for the defence. Handled badly, it costs you dearly.

This page sits within our free FtP Navigator hub and uses the NMC’s published case management framework as its worked example. The GMC, GDC, HCPC, GPhC and Social Work England run equivalent processes under their own rules, so the principles below travel across regulators.

What is case management in fitness to practise proceedings?

Case management is everything the regulator, the panel and you do between the case-to-answer decision and the hearing to get the case ready to be decided fairly and efficiently. At the NMC, panels are expected to manage cases in a way that is fair for everyone — a principle drawn from R (O’Brien) v General Medical Council [2006] EWHC 51 (Admin).

In practice, case management covers agreeing the hearing bundle, identifying which charges are admitted and which are disputed, deciding which witnesses must attend, arranging support measures for people giving evidence, and estimating hearing length. It also covers bigger structural decisions, such as whether allegations should be joined and heard together under Rule 29 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004 — something a panel cannot do if a joint hearing would make the proceedings unfair.

It even determines the forum. If you do not ask for a hearing, or do not respond, the NMC will usually conclude your case on the papers at a private meeting — so engaging with case management is also how you keep control of how your case is decided.

What is a case management hearing or preliminary meeting?

A case management hearing — which the NMC calls a preliminary meeting — is a private session before a Chair of the Fitness to Practise Committee, held after the case-to-answer decision, where procedural issues are raised and resolved before the final hearing. You get at least 14 days’ notice, a legal assessor attends to advise on the law, and you (and your representative) can attend in person or by telephone.

The Chair’s powers come from Rule 18(5) of the Rules and article 32(3) of the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001. They can direct time limits for serving evidence, fix hearing length, decide how witnesses give evidence, order an agreed statement of facts, require the parties to say whether health will be raised as an issue, and postpone, cancel or join cases. The Chair cannot decide costs or move the hearing venue, and is not limited to the issues the parties raise.

The NMC also holds a case conference in every case going to a hearing, roughly six weeks beforehand, chaired by a listing officer with an NMC lawyer present. It works through an agenda sent in advance: the hearing bundle, outstanding disclosure, admissions, witness requirements, support measures, issues in dispute and hearing length. If issues cannot be resolved there, a preliminary meeting can be arranged; if the final hearing has already started, a case management meeting before the same panel is used instead.

What are directions in fitness to practise proceedings?

Directions are binding procedural orders — issued by a Chair at a preliminary meeting or by the panel itself — telling the regulator and the registrant what must be done, and by when, to get the case ready for hearing. All decisions are sent to you in writing afterwards, and each one lands on your desk as a deadline.

Here is what the typical directions mean, and what you should do about each of them.

Typical direction	What it means	Your action
Time limits for service and disclosure of evidence	Each side must serve its evidence, and disclose relevant material, by fixed dates	Diarise every date with a buffer; check what arrives against what you expected — see disclosure and equality of arms — and chase gaps in writing immediately
Agreed statement of facts	Where facts are not in dispute, or misconduct is admitted, the undisputed ground is recorded so no live evidence is needed on it	Only agree wording that is strictly accurate; every concession is final, so have a solicitor vet the draft line by line
Witness requirements and mode of evidence	Confirms which witnesses must attend and whether any give evidence by video or telephone link	Identify which regulator witnesses you genuinely need to cross-examine, and secure dates and statements from your own witnesses early
Hearing length and dates to avoid	Fixes the listing window and the days you or your witnesses cannot attend	Give accurate availability now — panels can proceed in your absence later, so do not rely on fixing dates afterwards
Statement on whether health is raised as an issue	The parties must say if your health forms part of the case and whether medical reports are needed	Decide the health question early with your solicitor; if raised, commission proper independent medical evidence in good time
Requirement to undertake a language test	The Chair can direct a test where knowledge of English is in issue	Take advice before the meeting; prepare for the test rather than contesting it without grounds
Postponement, cancellation or joinder of cases	The Chair can move or cancel the final hearing, or direct that cases be heard together	If joinder would prejudice you, object promptly — a Chair then decides at a preliminary meeting, and unfairness is the key test

Do I have to attend a case management meeting?

You are not compelled to attend a case conference or preliminary meeting — the regulator cannot enforce attendance at any of its proceedings — but skipping them is almost always a mistake. Decisions about your bundle, your witnesses, your admissions and your hearing dates will be made whether you are in the room or not.

Your representative can attend on your behalf or with you, and preliminary meetings can be joined by telephone. If you stay silent, the regulator’s version of the issues in dispute, the witnesses required and the hearing length goes largely unchallenged — and directions bind you just the same.

Remember also that non-engagement shapes the forum itself. If the NMC does not hear from you, your case will usually be decided at a private meeting on the papers, with no opportunity to give live evidence or question witnesses.

What happens if I miss a deadline?

Missing a case management deadline rarely gets your case thrown out — it usually means the hearing goes ahead without the evidence, witnesses or arguments you failed to serve in time. Directions are orders, not suggestions, and panels weigh your engagement when deciding what fairness requires.

The starkest example is attendance. Panels can proceed and impose a sanction in your absence, guided by R v Jones (No.2) [2002] UKHL 5 and GMC v Adeogba; GMC v Visvardis [2016] EWCA Civ 162 — weighing the public interest in expedition, inconvenience to witnesses, your engagement with the proceedings and whether your reasons for non-attendance are supported by independent evidence. Once a panel properly proceeds without you, Sanusi v GMC [2019] EWCA Civ 1172 confirms there is no general obligation to pause and invite you back in at the impairment and sanction stages.

Nor can you assume a late adjournment will rescue you. Under Rule 32, postponements and adjournments are discretionary, and if you are unfit to attend you need proper medical evidence meeting the standard in Levy v Ellis-Carr [2012] EWHC 64 (Ch), affirmed in GMC v Hayat [2018] EWCA Civ 2796: an independent opinion following a proper examination, identifying the condition, why it prevents participation, and the prognosis. A sick note will not do.

How can case management help my defence?

Used proactively, case management is the defence’s best chance to narrow the charges, expose weaknesses in the regulator’s evidence, secure fair hearing arrangements and shrink a long hearing into a focused one. It is not administration — it is advocacy in advance.

Concrete opportunities include:

• Requesting a preliminary meeting yourself — you can ask for one, and use it to force disclosure timetables, challenge the bundle or resist unfair joinder of allegations.
• Strategic admissions — an agreed statement of facts on matters you cannot realistically contest keeps the hearing trained on the issues where you can win, and demonstrates insight.
• Witness control — narrowing which witnesses attend, and agreeing timetables, shortens hearings and limits the regulator’s opportunity to build atmosphere.
• Support measures — adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, remote evidence, breaks and ground rules for questioning can be agreed before the hearing rather than argued mid-crisis.
• Privacy applications — under Rule 19, health matters are generally heard in private, and you can apply for parts of the hearing to be private where reasonable and proportionate.

Our specialist fitness to practise solicitors run this stage deliberately in every case we defend, including NMC hearings.

Are you ready? Your case management readiness checklist

Work through this checklist before your case conference or preliminary meeting — if you cannot tick every box, you have found this week’s priority.

• Every direction and deadline diarised, with a buffer, and proof kept of everything you send
• Clear position on each charge: admitted, denied, or partially admitted — with reasons
• Case management forms and the case conference agenda answered accurately and on time
• Hearing bundle reviewed page by page; objections and missing disclosure raised in writing
• Regulator witnesses you need for cross-examination identified — and those you can agree released
• Your own witnesses confirmed, statements drafted, availability collected
• Health issues decided: raised or not, with independent medical evidence commissioned if raised
• Support measures and reasonable adjustments requested in advance, not on the day
• Realistic hearing length estimate and accurate dates to avoid supplied
• Specialist advice taken before agreeing any statement of facts or admission

Once the ground is prepared, move on to our guide to hearing preparation.

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This page is general information, not legal advice. No liability is accepted for reliance on it. Rules and guidance change — always check the current position or take specialist advice.