The High Court has dismissed an appeal brought by a registered nurse against a decision of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fitness to Practise Committee in Khan v The Nursing and Midwifery Council [2026] EWHC 1975 (Admin).
Judgment was handed down in the Administrative Court on 30 July 2026. The appeal challenged the NMC’s decision to proceed with the substantive fitness to practise hearing in the nurse’s absence and the refusal of an application to adjourn the proceedings.
The underlying fitness to practise proceedings concerned allegations that the nurse had engaged in cheating during a professional examination. Following the hearing, the NMC Fitness to Practise Committee determined that the misconduct was sufficiently serious to warrant a striking-off order.
Before the High Court, the appellant argued that the Fitness to Practise Committee had acted unfairly by refusing to postpone the hearing and by proceeding in the appellant’s absence.
The High Court rejected those arguments, finding that the panel had been entitled to conclude that it was appropriate to continue with the hearing. The court held that the committee had considered the relevant factors when deciding both the adjournment application and whether to proceed in the appellant’s absence, and that there was no procedural unfairness or error of law requiring the court’s intervention.
In dismissing the appeal, the court upheld the NMC’s findings and the striking-off order, reaffirming the principle that appellate courts will not interfere with decisions of specialist fitness to practise tribunals unless a material legal error or procedural unfairness is established.
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