Emergency Suspension Panel/Order

a. Where any delay in imposing an Interim Order under section 21 would pose an immediate risk to the public, the Complainant, the Member, or any other person, or would otherwise undermine public confidence in the profession, the Complaints and Resolution Manager or BABCP Registrar may apply to the Emergency Suspension Panel for an Emergency Suspension Order to suspend the Member from the CBT Register and/or membership pending consideration by an Interim Orders Panel. An Emergency Suspension Order may be sought at any stage of this Procedure, from the point at which a complaint is first received until the implementation of any final outcome or sanction. The Member will not be notified that the Emergency Suspension Panel is being convened and will accordingly not be able to make representations to it.

b. A person who applies for, supports, or is otherwise directly involved in seeking an Emergency Suspension Order in a particular case must not sit as a member of the Emergency Suspension Panel determining that application.

c. Before deciding to refer a matter to an Emergency Suspension Panel, the Complaints and Resolution Manager may seek appropriate clinical, accreditation, legal, or other specialist input.

d. To convene an Emergency Suspension Panel, three members are required. The Emergency Suspension Panel may comprise any three of the following BABCP officers or members, subject to availability and the absence of any conflict of interest:

i. The Chief Executive Officer;

ii. The Chief Accreditation Officer and Registrar;

iii. The Senior Clinical Advisor;

iv. An Accreditation Liaison Manager or Accreditation Liaison Officer (max. 1);

v. A Chair of the Standards and Ethics Committee;

vi. A Chair of the Practitioner Accreditation and Registration Committee;

vii. A Chair of the Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) Committee; and

viii. An accredited member of AREBT, where the complaint relates to an AREBT member.

e. An Emergency Suspension Order may be considered where information or evidence is received which gives rise to serious and urgent concerns, including but not limited to the following circumstances:

i. The concerns relate to a serious case as defined in Appendix 1;

ii. The Member is under police investigation, has received a caution, has been charged with, or has been convicted of, a serious offence;

iii. The Member has been expelled, suspended, or made subject to restrictions or conditions by another PSA-accredited register, statutory regulator, employer, or other competent authority;

iv. Concerns are raised that a physical or mental health condition is having a severe adverse impact on the Member’s ability to practise and/or poses a risk to service users, and the Member is not taking appropriate medical leave from practice;

v. The Member has failed to comply with a sanction imposed by BABCP under this Procedure.

f. Before imposing an Emergency Suspension Order, the Emergency Suspension Panel must be satisfied that the order is necessary and proportionate. In doing so, it must balance the immediate risk to the public against the impact of suspension on the Member and assess:

i. Whether, by virtue of the alleged breach of the Standards, allowing the Member to continue to practise without restrictions or conditions would place the public or the Member at risk;

ii. The seriousness of that risk;

iii. Whether an Interim Order would be sufficient to manage the risk;

iv. Whether allowing the Member to continue to practise without restrictions or conditions would undermine public confidence in the profession, or undermine professional standards; and

v. Whether the risk is of such an urgent nature that an Emergency Suspension Order is necessary and proportionate, and the matter cannot safely await consideration by an Interim Orders Panel.

g. The Emergency Suspension Panel must also weight the likely impact of suspension on the Member, including any financial impacts, nothing that the Member will not have the opportunity to make submission on these points, and consider whether those consequences are disproportionate to the risk the Interim Suspension Panel is seeking to address.

h. An Emergency Suspension Order may only be imposed if all three members of the Emergency Suspension Panel confirm in writing that the order is necessary and proportionate.

i. If an Emergency Suspension Order is not imposed, the Emergency Suspension Panel may:

i. Refer the allegations to the Interim Orders Panel for a determination in accordance with section 22; or

ii. Refer the allegations to the Screening Panel for a determination in accordance with section 18.

j. Where an Emergency Suspension Order is imposed, the Emergency Suspension Panel must notify the Complaints and Resolution Manager of the order, its duration, and the reasons for imposing it. Where the order suspends a Registrant, their entry on the CBT Register will be updated to show that their accreditation and/or registration has been suspended pending the resolution of the complaint.

k. Where an Emergency Suspension Order is imposed, the Complaints and Resolution Manager must:

i. Notify the Member in writing of the order, its duration, and the reasons for imposing it;

ii. Give the Member an opportunity to make written submissions and/or oral representations before an Interim Orders Panel; and

iii. Refer the matter to an Interim Orders Panel as soon as reasonably practicable, and in any event within 60 calendar days of the Emergency Suspension Order being imposed, so that they can determine whether or not to replace the Emergency Suspension Order with an Interim Suspension Order.

l. An Emergency Suspension Order cannot be extended under any circumstances.

m. Decisions of an Emergency Suspension Panel may be appealed in accordance with the procedure set out in section 36.

n. An appeal against an Emergency Suspension Order does not suspend the operation of the Order or prevent the referral or progression of the underlying allegations to an Interim Orders Panel under this Procedure. Unless revoked or replaced earlier, an Emergency Suspension Order will remain in force until the appeal has been determined or the Interim Orders Panel has made its determination, whichever occurs first.

o. An Emergency Suspension Order will be published in accordance with section 40.