Association of Chief Police Officers, Crown Prosecution Service, and Nursing and Midwifery Council joint agreement
Introduction
1. The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is to promote public and patient safety. It sets out an agreed understanding of how the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and General Medical Council (GMC) may cooperate to promote public and patient safety.
2. The roles and responsibilities of the signatories to this MoU are set out at Annex A (pdf).
3. This MoU replaces the information sharing protocol signed in July 2006 by ACPO, CPS, NMC, and GMC and the Statement of Intent agreed in March 2005 by ACPO, CPS, and GMC.
Principles of joint working between the signatories
4. Cooperation between the signatories may be governed by the following principles:
a. The signatories will respect each other’s independent status and will cooperate when necessary or appropriate to promote public and patient safety.
b. The signatories will be open and transparent about when it is and is not considered necessary or appropriate for them to cooperate.
c. When cooperating the signatories will make decisions on the basis of the public interest, and with reference to the need to maintain public confidence in police forces, the CPS, and the medical professions.
d. Cooperation between the signatories will reflect the need to use all resources efficiently and effectively to deliver maximum public and patient safety.
5. This MoU primarily deals with the timely and efficient exchange of information between signatories but other forms of cooperation may also be governed by these principles.
Exchange of information from the police forces to the NMC and GMC
6. The timely and sufficient exchange of relevant information from police forces to the NMC and GMC on a consistent basis is necessary to promote public and patient safety. Further background is provided at Annexes B and C respectively. The signatories agree that the Notifiable Occupations Scheme (the Scheme) set out in Home Office Circular 6 / 2006 (the Circular) facilitates to a large extent this exchange. The Circular is issued by the Policing Policy, Police Leadership and Powers Unit at the Home Office. The Scheme is an important component of the cooperation outlined in this MoU and so the signatories would need to review the MoU if a revised Circular was to be issued by the Home Office.
7. The Circular is addressed to all Chief Officers of Police in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and gives advice about the disclosure of conviction and other information in relation to people in professions or occupations which carry additional trust or responsibility. Registered medical practitioners (doctors), nurses, and midwives fall within the list of notifiable occupations. The text of the Circular is set out at Annex D (pdf).
Points at which the Scheme facilitates exchange of information
8. The signatories understand that the Scheme allows for the timely and sufficient exchange of relevant information from polices forces to the NMC and GMC on a consistent basis at the following points:
a. The prompt notification by the police force to the NMC or GMC of the investigation in relation to a serious criminal offence of a doctor, nurse, or midwife.
b. Supply of information from a police force to the NMC or GMC at the request of the NMC or GMC when a doctor, nurse, or midwife has notified the relevant regulator that they are under investigation for, have received a caution in relation to, or have been convicted of a serious criminal offence.
c. The prompt notification by a police force to the NMC or GMC of the caution, conviction, or decision to take no further action against a doctor, nurse, or midwife.
d. Supply of further information after initial notification from a police force to the NMC or GMC at the request of the NMC or GMC.
Types of offence of interest to the NMC and GMC
9. Guidance on the types of offence of relevance to the NMC and GMC is set out at Annex B (pdf) and Annex C (pdf) respectively.
Interface between police forces and NMC and GMC
10. The commencement of any investigation into a medical practitioner, nurse or midwife should be brought to the attention of the a police force’s Notifiable Occupation Co-ordinator, who will then be responsible for notifying the Notifiable Occupation Co-ordinator at the relevant Regulatory Body and for any subsequent updates at the request of the officer responsible for the case. Contact details for the regulators are set out at Annex E (pdf).
Payment for information
11. The timely and sufficient exchange of relevant disclosure information to the NMC or GMC in line with the Notifiable Occupations Scheme should not ordinarily require a charge being applied. Where additional information is requested forces should not seek to charge anything over a reasonable administrative cost incurred through the collation and supply of that information. (ACPO has issued a document titled Guidance on Charging for Police Services.)
Exchange of information from the NMC and GMC to police forces
12. The timely and sufficient exchange of relevant information from the NMC and GMC to police forces on a consistent basis is necessary to promote public and patient safety.
13. The NMC or GMC will promptly inform the relevant police force of a nurse, midwife, or doctor who it believes may have committed a serious criminal offence.
14. At the request of a police force the NMC or GMC will supply relevant information about a nurse, midwife, or doctor where this will promote public and patient safety.
Types of offence of interest to police forces
15. Police forces usually need to be notified about the following criminal offences, although this list is not intended to be exhaustive:
a. Indecent assault and rape;
b. Incidents of violence;
c. Theft, particularly cases involving a serious abuse of trust;
d. Theft of drugs;
e. Other offences of dishonesty, including fraud and false certification which cannot otherwise be dealt with at a local level through employment contracts;
f. False declarations of professional qualifications to obtain employment;
g. Racist or homophobic behaviour towards any person; and
h. Pornographic material apparently involving children.
Interface between the NMC and GMC and police forces
16. The Notifiable Occupations Coordinator at the NMC or GMC will discuss the desirability of any referral with an appropriate person at the relevant police force. Usually this will be someone of at least inspector rank.
Payment for information
17. The NMC and GMC will not levy unreasonable charges for the timely and sufficient exchange of relevant information to police forces when it is exchanged to promote public and patient safety.
Exchange of information between the CPS, NMC, and GMC
18. Although it is not anticipated that there will be a frequent need for exchange of information between the CPS, NMC and GMC as signatories to this MoU the three organisations are willing to consider doing so as appropriate.
Data protection and confidentiality
19. All exchange of information between signatories to promote public and patient safety will comply with the Human Rights Act 1998, Data Protection Act 1998, and the common law duty of confidentiality.
Review
20. The signatories will review this MoU six months after it begins. The GMC will liaise with the lead people for this MoU at the other signatory organisations to coordinate the review. The lead people for this MoU at each organisation are listed at Annex E.