Interim orders explained

Why interim orders exist

Fitness-to-practise investigations can take many months. Where a regulator has serious concerns about a practitioner but has not yet held a substantive hearing, it can ask an interim orders panel (or the equivalent committee) to impose a temporary restriction so that the practitioner does not continue working unrestricted while the investigation is underway.

Interim orders are not findings of misconduct. The practitioner has not been found to have done anything wrong; the order is purely precautionary.

Types of interim order

There are two main types:

• Interim suspension — the practitioner cannot work in the regulated profession until the order is lifted or replaced
• Interim conditions of practice — the practitioner can work but only subject to specific restrictions, such as supervision or a ban on certain procedures

Duration and review

Interim orders are typically imposed for periods of up to eighteen months and can be extended on application to the High Court. They must be reviewed regularly — usually within six months and at six-monthly intervals after that.

When the substantive hearing eventually takes place, the panel can impose a substantive sanction, lift the interim order, or extend it pending appeal. Interim orders are common where the underlying allegation involves dishonesty, sexual misconduct, criminal proceedings, or a serious health concern.

How MedicWatch records interim orders

Interim order decisions are public and are recorded in MedicWatch alongside substantive hearings. We are careful to mark them as interim — the page makes clear that an interim order is a precautionary measure pending investigation, not a finding that the practitioner has done anything wrong.