Concerns
Information about how to raise a concern about a social worker and how we deal with concerns.
Concerns overview
Before you raise a concern (for members of the public)
- What we mean by fitness to practise
- Make a complaint to a social worker's employer
- Get support to raise a concern
- If your concern is not about a social worker
- What happens after you have raised a concern
Referrals (for employers and other organisations)
- Refer a concern about an employee
- Fitness to practise guidance for employers
- Refer a concern about a social worker (other organisations)
- Emerging concerns protocol
How we deal with concerns
- What we do when we receive a new concern
- How we investigate concerns
- What interim orders are and why we have them
- Automatic removal
- What happens after an investigation
- Case examiner decisions
- Hearings
- Voluntary removal
- Voluntary removal decisions
- What happens after a fitness to practise decision
- Power to review case examiner decisions
Detailed guidance
For social workers
- Fitness to practise guide
- Detailed guidance for suspended social workers
- Detailed guidance on hearings for social workers
- Detailed guidance on health concerns
- Detailed guidance on early reviews
- Detailed guidance for self-represented social workers at hearings
- Detailed guidance on attendance of people at fitness to practise hearings
- Detailed guidance on interim orders for social workers
- Detailed guidance for evidence given outside of the UK
- Communicating online: proposed guidance for social workers (proposed guidance currently in consultation)
For witnesses, members of the public and employers
- Detailed guidance on how we use personal information
- Detailed guidance on hearings for witnesses
- Detailed guidance on supporting vulnerable witnesses
- Detailed guidance for employers
- Detailed guidance for supervisors and reporters
How we make decisions
- Adjudicator consensual disposal guidance (proposed guidance currently in consultation)
- Decision making guidance – concerns relating to social workers communicating online (proposed guidance currently in consultation)
- Fitness to practise glossary of terms
- Fitness to practise conditions bank
- Fitness to practise process flowchart
- Detailed guidance on equality and diversity (fitness to practise)
- Detailed guidance on impairment and sanction
- Detailed guidance on just disposal of transfer cases
- Detailed guidance on adjudicator conflicts of interest
- Detailed guidance on pre-hearing case management
- Detailed guidance for the triage team
- Detailed guidance for case examiners
- Detailed guidance on referrals for interim orders
- Detailed guidance on case examiner conflicts of interest
- Detailed guidance on maintaining the independence of case examiners
- Detailed guidance on postponements and adjournments
- Detailed guidance on service of notices and proceeding in the absence of social worker
- Detailed guidance on restoration to the register after removal orders
- Detailed guidance on drafting fitness to practise decisions
- Detailed guidance on sharing information with other regulators (emerging concerns protocol)
- Detailed guidance on discontinuance
- Detailed guidance for adjudicators making registration appeal decisions
- Detailed guidance on voluntary removal
- Detailed guidance on remote hearings
- Detailed guidance on power to review case examiner decisions (rule 12G)
- Detailed guidance on power to review case examiner decisions (guidance for case examiners)