What should I do to prepare for the hearing?

You are being called as a witness as you have either raised concerns regarding a registered veterinary professional or are a witness to events that somebody else has raised concerns about. You will have already been interviewed and given a formal statement to RCVS’ external solicitors.

On this occasion, a decision has recently been made by the Preliminary Investigation Committee to refer the matter to the Disciplinary Committee (‘DC’) for a hearing which means that those who have provided a witness statement are required to attend and give evidence.

It is important that those who have provided witness statements are available on the day of the hearing so that both parties, and the DC, have the opportunity to ask questions and better understand the incident(s) complained about.

Yes, in the conclusion to your witness statement, it will state that you are willing to attend a hearing if required and the expectation is that all those who have given statements will attend.

Prior to the hearing, you will receive a witness summons issued by the High Court. A witness summons is a legal document that makes it compulsory for you to attend. We issue witness summonses for all of our witnesses as many find it useful for the purposes of confirming to their employer the reason you will need to take time off work to attend the hearing.

If there are exceptional reasons why you are unable to attend (for example, due to ill-health), it may be possible to rely on your written witness statement as evidence without you needing to attend. However, in order to do this, you will need to supply evidence (for example a Doctor’s letter) to explain why you cannot attend. There is a formal legal procedure to go through to have a witness excused from the requirement to attend the hearing. Therefore, if you think you may not be able to attend for any reason, please contact us immediately to discuss.

In some limited situations, your evidence may be “agreed” prior to the hearing. This means that both parties agree that your witness statement can be relied on without you needing to attend and give live evidence. This is not normally confirmed until very close to the hearing (for example the week before, or week of, the hearing) so you should plan on attending unless told otherwise.

You will be asked to provide your availability for a period of several months. This information will then be used to work out a date that is best for all involved. We aim to identify a hearing date within three months of a matter being referred, however this is not always possible due to the availability of all those involved. Once a hearing date has been identified on, you will be notified.

The length of time that a hearing takes varies according to the number of witnesses being called, some hearings can last 2 or 3 days and some can last 3 weeks. You will not be required to attend for the whole hearing and will only be asked to attend on the day you will be giving your evidence. You will not be required to stay at the hearing after you have given your evidence. Nearer the hearing, you will be told the exact date and time you need to be there.

Hearings are normally held at locations in London (although occasionally hearings are remote where necessary) and in most cases witnesses are required to attend in person. If you will have difficulties attending in person, remote attendance may be possible. In order to attend remotely, we will need you to supply evidence to explain why you cannot attend in person. There is a formal legal procedure to go through to permit a witness to give their evidence remotely. Therefore, if you think you may need to attend remotely, please contact us immediately so this can be discussed further.

We can reimburse reasonable expenses for travel, accommodation and food but we will require you to submit an expense claim form together with receipts for such expenses. Details of the maximum amounts that will be reimbursed are on the expense claim form. If you have any queries about what you can claim, please let us know.

Additionally, if you think you will incur a direct loss of earnings as a result of attending the hearing, please let us know so this can be discussed in more detail.

The RCVS solicitor managing the matter will always have a call with you before the hearing so you can learn more about the process and ask any questions you might have.  Additionally, if you work within the veterinary community, you may also wish to contact:

• Your professional indemnity insurer
• ProfCon Investigation Support (PCIS) which is a free confidential listening and support service designed to support those going through the professional conduct investigation process https://vetsupport.me/profcon/
• VetLife who offer independent and confidential support 24/7 265 days a year: https://www.vetlife.org.uk/

DC hearings represent the final stage of the RCVS concerns procedure. Hearings are generally held in public and follow standard court procedures. Whilst the hearing is formal, the barristers will not be wearing wigs or gowns and the DC is very aware that most witnesses will not have been in such a setting before so will be mindful to allow plenty of breaks.

The role of the DC is to make a series of decisions. The first decision is whether the facts are proven, e.g. did the incident(s) complained of take place. It is normally during this stage of the proceedings when you (and potentially others) will be called to give evidence. When making this decision, the DC must apply the highest civil standard of proof which is ‘to be sure’. This is the same as ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’ in criminal proceedings so it is a very high threshold.

If the DC finds that the facts are proven to this high standard, it must then decide whether the veterinary professionals conduct amounts to serious professional misconduct. To make this decision, the DC may hear from expert witnesses.

Finally, if the DC decides that the facts are proven and they amount to serious professional misconduct, they will then decide on the appropriate sanction. During this stage, the DC may hear from ‘character witnesses’ and/or the veterinary professional themselves. The DC has various sanctions available to them, such as:

• no further action;
• postponement of judgment (e.g. to see if certain conditions can be met in the interim);
• a warning/repimand;
• suspension;
• removal from the register.