Hammond v Highland Health Board — 2022

The claimant was employed as an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner at Portree Community Hospital. His HCPC registration expired on 31 August 2021, and the tribunal found that he continued to work on a number of shifts in September 2021 while unregistered. The respondent investigated the matter, held a conduct hearing on 8 March 2022, and Mr Mackenzie dismissed him by letter of 15 March 2022. The claimant appealed and Ms Bussell heard the appeal on 27 July 2022, ultimately upholding the dismissal by letter of 3 August 2022.

The tribunal accepted that the reason for dismissal was misconduct. It found, however, that the invite letter to the conduct hearing did not specifically put a separate allegation that the claimant had misled his line manager on 21 September 2021 by saying he was registered and had e-mail confirmation. The tribunal treated this as a material procedural defect because that second allegation formed part of Mr Mackenzie’s reasoning for dismissal, and the claimant should have had fair notice of it before the hearing.

The tribunal held that the defect was cured on appeal. The claimant expressly raised the notice point in his appeal, Ms Shaw gave evidence about the 21 and 22 September 2021 conversations, and Ms Bussell considered and rejected the appeal points after reviewing the earlier papers and hearing from the parties. Applying the overall fairness of the disciplinary process, the tribunal concluded that the claimant had a full opportunity on appeal to answer the second allegation.

On the merits, the tribunal found that the respondent had reasonable grounds to believe the claimant knew his registration had lapsed by 5 September 2021 and that he continued to work while unregistered. It also found that he misled Ms Shaw on 21 September 2021 by saying he had renewed registration and had e-mail confirmation when that was not the case. Given the importance of HCPC registration, the claimant’s autonomous working, and the findings of dishonesty, the tribunal held that dismissal fell within the band of reasonable responses and dismissed the unfair dismissal claim.