Types of sanctions explained
Erasure, suspension, conditions of practice, warnings, and undertakings — what each sanction means and how it affects a practitioner's ability to work.
Written by the MedicWatch editorial team. Last reviewed 25 April 2026.
When a UK healthcare regulator finds that a practitioner's fitness to practise is impaired, it can impose one of several sanctions. Each one balances protecting the public against allowing the practitioner to continue working in some form.
Erasure
Erasure removes the practitioner from the register. They cannot practise the regulated profession in the UK. It is the most serious sanction and is generally reserved for misconduct that the regulator considers fundamentally incompatible with continued practice. There is no fixed end date; the practitioner may apply for restoration after a minimum waiting period (usually five years).
Suspension
Suspension pauses the right to practise for a fixed period — typically three to twelve months, sometimes longer. At the end of the suspension, the practitioner is restored automatically unless a review hearing extends or replaces the suspension. Suspensions are used where the misconduct is serious enough to require a meaningful pause but not so fundamental that erasure is needed.
Conditions of practice
Conditions allow the practitioner to keep working but only subject to specific restrictions. Examples of conditions include: working only under direct supervision, not performing certain procedures, not prescribing certain drugs, working only at a named location, providing the regulator with regular reports from a supervisor, or undertaking specified training. Conditions are set for a fixed period and reviewed at the end.
Warning
A warning is a formal note on the practitioner's record. It does not restrict practice but tells the practitioner — and anyone who searches the register — that the regulator considers the conduct to have fallen below expected standards. Warnings remain visible on the register for a fixed period (usually two to five years).
Undertakings
Undertakings are commitments accepted by the regulator as an alternative to a contested hearing. The practitioner agrees to specific restrictions or actions (similar to conditions of practice) and the regulator accepts these instead of pursuing a sanction. Undertakings can be confidential or public depending on the regulator and the case.
No further action
Where the regulator concludes that the practitioner's fitness to practise is not impaired, or that the case does not merit a formal sanction, it may take no further action. This may follow advice or feedback to the practitioner and is not the same as a positive finding that nothing went wrong.
Sources
Browse decisions by sanction type on MedicWatch.
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