Concern: conduct and public trust
Remediation for conduct, behaviour and public trust concerns
Conduct concerns are about behaviour and judgement, and about the trust the public places in your profession. This page explains what regulators look for and sets out a seven-course pack on trust, professionalism, insight and lasting change.
Misconduct remediation: what it involves
Misconduct remediation is the work of understanding a lapse in behaviour or judgement, addressing its causes and showing, with evidence, that you can be trusted to practise safely and professionally. Conduct concerns cover a wide range: unprofessional behaviour towards colleagues or patients, bullying or discriminatory remarks, aggressive or inappropriate communication, conduct outside work that reflects on the profession, failing to cooperate with an investigation, failing to declare something you should have declared, or breaching conditions or undertakings.
This page is for registrants of any UK healthcare or social work regulator who face a conduct concern that does not fit neatly into a clinical, boundaries, confidentiality or dishonesty category. Separate packs exist for those concerns, and the free remediation pathway routes you to the right one based on your regulator and the concern.
Conduct concerns can feel more personal than clinical errors, because they are about who you are at work rather than a single decision. That makes honest reflection harder and more important. If you have received a letter from your regulator, contact your defence organisation, union or a solicitor before you respond.
Why public confidence matters as much as patient safety
Regulators do not only protect patients from direct harm. The GMC's overarching objective, set out in section 1 of the Medical Act 1983, is to protect the public, which includes protecting health, safety and wellbeing, promoting public confidence in the profession, and promoting proper professional standards and conduct. The other UK regulators work to equivalent objectives in their own legislation.
This explains why conduct that never touched a patient can still lead to action. It also explains why remediation in conduct cases has two jobs: reducing the risk of repetition and showing that you understand the effect of your behaviour on trust in your profession.
Some conduct is harder to remediate than other conduct. For doctors, tribunals have used the Guidance for MPTS tribunals since 24 November 2025; read it for how they treat conduct that is hard to remediate. The NMC asks first whether a concern can be addressed at all (FTP-16a), and Social Work England's guidance says character concerns such as dishonesty are harder to remediate than gaps in knowledge or skill (impairment and sanctions guidance). Remediation is still worth doing in these cases, but the quality of your insight carries even more weight.
Recommended bundle
The courses below address this concern together. Add them to your basket in one step.
Conduct and Trust Pack
Rebuilding Trust, Professionalism and Fitness to Practise cover conduct, public confidence and the FtP test; Deal with a Complaint covers the response; the IRR modules evidence insight and change.
- Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Public, and Healthcare Regulators£69 + VAT
- Professionalism for Healthcare Professionals£69 + VAT
- Fitness to Practise for Healthcare Professionals£79 + VAT
- How to Deal with a Complaint or Investigation£69 + VAT
- Module on Insight for Healthcare Professionals£45 + VAT
- Reflection for Healthcare Professionals£45 + VAT
- Remediation for Healthcare Professionals£45 + VAT
Pack saving: 25% off these courses, plus the Reflective Practice Workbook for 12 months.
7 courses, pack price Separately £421 £315.75 + VAT
Insight, remediation and the risk of repetition in conduct cases
Across the regulators, three questions recur:
- Insight: do you understand what you did, why it was wrong and how it affected others and public trust? Insight is shown through reflection and remediation, and refusing to apologise or accept mistakes is generally seen as a sign that insight may be lacking.
- Remediation: what have you done to address the causes? Social Work England says remediation is best shown by objective evidence such as completed training, appraisals and practice feedback, and that earlier remediation carries more weight.
- Risk of repetition: is it highly unlikely to happen again? The NMC asks this directly (NMC FtP library), and the HCPTS practice note on impairment links insight to the future risk of repetition (HCPTS practice note).
In conduct cases, panels are often looking for evidence of a change in attitude, not only in knowledge. Statements that explain the behaviour away, blame colleagues or focus on your own distress tend to undermine insight, even if they are sincere.
- InsightUnderstanding what went wrong, why, and its effect on others and on trust.
- RemediationPractical steps that address the concern, such as targeted learning and supervised practice.
- ReflectionShowing what you learned and how your practice has changed.
Behaviour change, not just learning
Most conduct concerns do not come from a gap in knowledge. You probably knew the behaviour was wrong. The useful questions are about what drove it and what now stops it:
- What was happening for you at the time: workload, fatigue, conflict, personal stress or health?
- What attitudes or assumptions made the behaviour seem acceptable in the moment?
- What were the early warning signs, and what will you do differently when you notice them?
- Who will you go to for support, and who will tell you if they see the pattern returning?
The remediation module in this pack covers root cause analysis for conduct, health and systemic causes, and the role of supervision, mentoring and coaching. Many professionals find that working with a mentor or coach over several months produces the most convincing evidence of change, because it is observed and recorded by someone else.
The Conduct and Trust Pack: seven courses and why each fits
The pack combines trust and professionalism with an understanding of the fitness to practise test and a structured approach to insight, reflection and remediation. Learning times come from each course outline.
| Course | What it covers for this concern | Learning time |
|---|---|---|
| Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Public, and Healthcare Regulators | Why trust matters, common causes of lost trust, accountability and integrity, rebuilding trust with patients, the public and regulators, complying with recommendations, and a personal development plan. | About 2 hours |
| Professionalism for Healthcare Professionals | What UK regulators expect, the core attributes of professional practice, fatigue, burnout and moral distress, unprofessional behaviour and its effects, digital professionalism, speaking up, and how breaches are remediated. | About 2 hours |
| Fitness to Practise for Healthcare Professionals | The purpose of regulation, current impairment, what triggers an investigation, the process from referral to hearing, outcomes and sanctions, processes by regulator, twenty worked case studies and a decision-making workshop. | About 4 hours, with a 40-question assessment |
| How to Deal with a Complaint or Investigation | What to do in the first few days, writing a constructive response, investigations and hearings, interim orders, declaring matters to your regulator, building a remediation portfolio, and handling the stress. | About 2 hours |
| Module on Insight for Healthcare Professionals | What insight is, barriers to it, how to demonstrate it, and its role in investigations. | About 2 hours |
| Reflection for Healthcare Professionals | Models of reflection, moving from reflection to insight, bias and blind spots, and writing reflection that shows change. | About 2 hours |
| Remediation for Healthcare Professionals | Root cause analysis, honesty about your own contribution, building a remediation plan, supervision, mentoring and coaching, and evidencing and sustaining change. | About 2 hours |
Together that is about 16 hours of self-directed learning. Six courses end with 15 scenario-based questions and the fitness to practise course with 40; all have an 80% pass mark and a reflective account, and each gives a certificate of completion from Healthcare Practise UK. Prices show live on each course card. The bundles page lists the full pack.
Evidence that carries weight in conduct cases
- Testimonials from people who know about the concern: testimonials that can be verified, from people who know about the concern, are generally more useful. A reference from someone unaware of the concern is likely to carry little weight.
- Workplace feedback: appraisal records, colleague feedback and comments from managers on your behaviour since the concern.
- Mentoring or coaching records: dated notes of sessions and what you worked on.
- Compliance records: evidence that you have followed any interim conditions or undertakings in full.
- An apology, where appropriate: discuss with your representative how and when to apologise.
- A reflective statement in your own words: the reflective statement builder gives prompts based on your regulator's standards.
To see which of these you already have, use the free remediation readiness check. It lists your gaps and suggests next steps.
- Index and chronologyWhat happened and what you have done since, in date order.
- Reflective statementsYour own account of what you learned and changed.
- CertificatesCourses completed, with dates and what each covered.
- TestimonialsSigned, dated, from people who know the concerns.
- CPD logRelevant learning with notes on how you applied it.
- Action planWhat you will keep doing so it does not happen again.
When the concern involves a conviction, caution or health
Criminal matters and health concerns need specialist advice first. Every regulator has rules on what you must declare and when; the complaints course covers declaring matters to your regulator, but your representative should guide what you say. Where alcohol, drugs or mental health are part of the picture, treatment and support come before courses. NHS Practitioner Health offers confidential help to many healthcare professionals, and your GP is a good first contact.
An honest note about what courses can do
Courses give you knowledge, structure and dated evidence of learning. They cannot show a panel that your behaviour has changed; only your conduct over time, observed by others, can do that. Use the courses to understand the standards and to prepare your reflection, then let your practice provide the proof.
Healthcare Practise UK is an independent online CPD provider. We are not part of, or recognised by, any regulator or the NHS. This page is not legal advice and does not predict the outcome of any case.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as misconduct for a healthcare professional?
Broadly, behaviour that falls seriously short of the standards your regulator expects. It can happen at work or outside it, online or in person. Each regulator's standards and fitness to practise guidance set out what it considers serious.
Can I be found impaired if no patient was harmed?
Yes. Regulators also act to maintain public confidence in the profession and to uphold proper standards. Panels consider both when deciding whether fitness to practise is currently impaired.
Is conduct harder to remediate than a clinical error?
Often, yes, because it concerns attitudes and behaviour rather than a skill. Regulators accept that some conduct is harder to remediate. Strong insight and evidence of change observed by others matter most.
Should I take the fitness to practise course?
It helps you understand the test decision makers apply, the process and possible outcomes. It is the longest course in the pack, with a 40-question assessment. See the course page for the full outline.
How long should I spend on remediation?
There is no set period. Decision makers look for change that has been sustained and tested in practice, so evidence gathered over months usually says more than a burst of activity just before a hearing.
Will my regulator know I took these courses?
Only if you tell them. You decide, with your representative, what to include in your evidence and when to submit it.
Not sure where to start?
Tell us your regulator and the concern. The pathway shows the courses that fit, helps you write your reflection and puts your evidence in order. It is free and nothing leaves your browser.