The General Chiropractic Council (Investigating Committee) Rules Order of Council 2000

Obtaining of information concerning allegations U.K.

4.—(1) Where an allegation to be investigated by the Committee is of a kind mentioned in section 20(1)(a) or (b) of the Act, the Committee shall, before the beginning of the period of three weeks ending with the day on which notice is served under Rule 3(1), invite the person making the allegation, and any other person appearing to it to have information relevant to the question whether there is a case to answer, to make a statement of evidence by statutory declaration or affidavit as to the matters giving rise to the allegation; and the Committee may invite such evidence in any other case.

(2) A copy of any statement of evidence provided to the Committee under paragraph (1) shall be sent to the chiropractor concerned with the notice given under Rule 3(1), or as soon as practicable thereafter, and (if not sent with that notice) shall be accompanied by an invitation to submit observations within such period (expiring not less than 14 days after the day on which the invitation was served) as may be specified in the invitation.

(3) Where an allegation to be investigated by the Committee appears to the Committee to raise the issue mentioned in section 20(1)(d) of the Act, the Committee may, if it thinks fit—

(a) invite the chiropractor to attend before a medical assessor appointed under section 28 of the Act with a view to that assessor examining him and reporting on his physical or mental condition or, if the information received by the Committee includes reports on the chiropractor by medical practitioners who have recently examined him, and it appears to the Committee that such reports afford sufficient medical evidence that the chiropractor’s ability to practise as a chiropractor may be seriously impaired because of his physical or mental condition, so inform him; and

(b) inform the chiropractor that it is open to him to nominate other medical practitioners to examine him at his own expense and report to the Committee on his ability to practise (which may as the Committee thinks fit be in place of or in addition to any report from a medical assessor under sub-paragraph (a)).

(4) An invitation under paragraph (3)(a) to attend before a medical assessor shall contain a statement that if the chiropractor fails to attend for an examination without good reason, the Investigating Committee will take that into account and may conclude that there is a case to answer.

(5) Subject to paragraph (6), where the Committee receives a report from a medical assessor or other medical practitioner pursuant to paragraph (3), the Committee shall send a copy of the report to the chiropractor concerned, and shall invite him to submit observations in writing to the Committee within such period (expiring not less than 14 days after the day on which the invitation was served) as may be specified in the invitation.

(6) If in the opinion of the Committee any report of a medical practitioner required to be sent to the chiropractor concerned under this Rule contains material which is not relevant to the present ability to practise of the chiropractor and which it would not be in the best interests of the chiropractor to see, the Committee may exclude such material from the documents sent to the chiropractor (in which case the excluded material shall not be taken into account by the Committee).