The Fitness to Practise department processes allegations of impairment of fitness to practise made against nurses, midwives and community public health nurses on grounds including misconduct, lack of competence and ill health.
The main purpose of the proceedings is to protect the public from unsafe nurses/midwives.
An Bord Altranais is the regulatory body for nurses and midwives and our primary aim is to protect the public. We do this through setting and maintaining standards of education, training, conduct and performance.
Fitness to practise is a nurse’s or midwife’s suitability to be on the register without restrictions. One of our most important tasks is to deal with allegations that a nurse/midwife's fitness to practise is impaired due to:
- Misconduct,
- Lack of competence,
- A conviction or caution (including a finding of guilt by a court martial),
- Physical or mental ill health,
- A finding by any other health or social care regulator or licensing body that a registrant’s fitness to practise is impaired,
- Fraudulent or incorrect entry in the register of An Bord Altranais.
Anyone has the right to make a complaint to An Bord Altranais about a nurse or midwife. An Bord Altranais receives complaints from fellow nurses/midwives, colleagues in other health care professions, patients and their families, employers, managers and the Garda Siochana. You need to tell us the name of the nurse/midwife involved, the dates of the alleged incidents or patterns of behaviour and an outline of the allegation(s).
We will send a copy of your complaint to the nurse/midwife so that they have the opportunity to comment. There is no time limit within which a complaint has to be referred to An Bord Altranais, although it is more difficult to investigate incidents that happened a number of years ago.
The complaint must be sent in writing to:
Fitness to Practise
An Bord Altranais
18/20 Carysfort Avenue,
Blackrock,
Co. Dublin.