In short
A fitness to practise case can close before a hearing in four ways: no further action, advice, a warning, or undertakings you agree to. Each means something different for your record: at the GMC, a warning is published on the register for two years and disclosed to current employers after that. After any of them, our How to Ensure a Similar Mistake or Misconduct Will Not Be Repeated in Future CPD course shows the learning was put into practice, for £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10), 2 CPD hours, and Probity & Ethics is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service.
Just had the decision letter?
Your regulator has closed the case without a hearing and you want to know what the outcome means for your record, your employer and your next job.
Planning your CPD after a case?
A closed case is a good point to record what you learned and changed, for your appraisal, revalidation or CPD record.
Who closes a case without a hearing?
At the GMC, the decision at the end of an investigation is made by two case examiners, one medical and one lay; at the NMC, case examiners make it too. They decide whether the case can close or must go to a hearing. The other UK regulators have their own case examiners or investigating committees with similar options; see our guides to the GMC case examiners and the NMC case examiners, and the stages guide for your own regulator from what is fitness to practise.
The names of the outcomes are close across regulators, but the detail of each one, and what is published, is set by each regulator. This guide uses the GMC and NMC as the worked examples.
No further action
The case examiners decide there is nothing more to do. The GMC describes this as closing the case with no action taken. At the NMC, the case examiners can find no case to answer and simply close the case.
No further action does not mean the concern never happened. The GMC tells the doctor, the person who raised the concern and any current employer of the decision and its reasons (health cases are the exception, where the reasons go only to the doctor). What happens next with the GMC is in our guide to what happens when your GMC investigation closes.
Advice
The GMC can issue advice to the doctor when it closes a case with no action. The NMC case examiners can give advice when they find no case to answer. Advice does not restrict your practice, but read it as a pointer to the standard the concern touched: act on it and keep a note of what you changed.
Warnings
A warning closes the case but is a formal outcome that others can see. At the GMC, warnings are published:
- on your status page on the register for one year, then on your history page for a further year;
- during those two years, the GMC discloses the warning to anyone who asks about your fitness to practise history;
- after the two years, the GMC discloses an expired warning only to current employers, and does so with no end date.
The NMC case examiners can also issue a warning when they find no case to answer. How warnings compare with undertakings and conditions at the GMC is in our guide to GMC warnings, undertakings and conditions.
Undertakings and agreed outcomes
Undertakings are an agreement between you and the regulator about your future practice, for example to work under supervision, to stay away from one type of work or to complete remediation by a date. The GMC describes them as an agreement made between it and the doctor, so they need your agreement.
- GMC. Case examiners can agree undertakings with the doctor in place of a referral to a tribunal. The choice between agreeing an outcome and going to a tribunal is set out in our guide to GMC agreed outcomes.
- NMC. Where there is a case to answer, the case examiners can recommend undertakings to be agreed with the nurse, midwife or nursing associate. See our guide to NMC agreed outcomes.
Read undertakings with your defence organisation or union before you agree. They are a commitment about your practice, and you must keep to them.
What is published and who is told
| Outcome | What the GMC guide says about publication | Who the GMC tells |
|---|---|---|
| No further action, with or without advice | Not named as published | You, the person who raised the concern and current employers, with the reasons |
| Warning | Published: one year on your status page, one more year on your history page; disclosed to anyone who asks for those two years, then to current employers with no end date | As above |
| Undertakings | Ask the GMC or your adviser what will show for your case | As above |
The GMC’s guide for doctors names warnings as the outcome it publishes on the register. The NMC publishes its own guidance on what it publishes and for how long; ask your caseworker if you are unsure what will show on your entry.
Remediation and CPD after a closed case
A closed case is the point to show the change lasted, for your own practice and for anyone who later asks about the case. Three steps:
- Complete a course on the subject of the concern and keep the dated certificate.
- Write a short reflection on what happened, the outcome and what you now do differently.
- Bring both to your appraisal, revalidation or CPD record. They count as CPD, and they show any undertakings were met. How a fitness to practise course counts for each regulator’s CPD is in our guide to the fitness to practise CPD course.
Please note
This guide is general information, not legal advice. No regulator approves or endorses any course, and no course decides the outcome of a case. Speak to your defence organisation, union or a solicitor before you agree undertakings.
The course after a closed case
For every UK healthcare and social work professional
How to Ensure a Similar Mistake or Misconduct Will Not Be Repeated in Future
How to understand what went wrong, put changes into practice and show they have lasted, with a dated certificate. Probity & Ethics is CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197).
- £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10)
- 2 CPD hours
- Certificate on completion
Courses that sit beside it
An employer buying for its team can use Bulk Buy: £200 for 3 courses, £300 for 5, £500 for 10. Not sure which course fits? Book a free 15-minute call or see which course do I need.
Guides that help
The CPD courses linked from this guide, How to Ensure a Similar Mistake or Misconduct Will Not Be Repeated in Future, How to Deal with a Complaint or Investigation, Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Colleagues, Public, and Healthcare Regulator and Module on Insight, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.
Questions and answers
Does a closed case stay on my record?
It depends on the outcome. At the GMC, a warning is shown on the register for two years and disclosed to current employers after that. The GMC tells you, the person who raised the concern and current employers of every case examiner decision and its reasons.
Do I tell my next employer about a closed case?
Answer any question an employer asks about your fitness to practise history honestly and in full. At the GMC, a warning is disclosed to anyone who asks for two years, and to current employers after that. Ask your defence organisation or union if you are unsure what a form is asking.
Is advice the same as a warning?
No. Advice comes with a decision to close the case with no action and does not restrict your practice. A warning is a formal outcome and, at the GMC, is published on the register for two years.
Do I have to agree to undertakings?
Undertakings are an agreement between you and the regulator about your future practice, so they need your agreement. Take advice from your defence organisation, union or a solicitor before you decide.
Does a course help after a case is closed?
A course on the subject of the concern, with a written reflection, shows the change lasted and helps meet any undertakings. It does not change the outcome, and no regulator approves or endorses courses.
Does the course count as CPD?
Yes. It gives 2 CPD hours with a dated certificate, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service, for your appraisal, revalidation or CPD record.
Sources
This guide is based on the following pages, checked on 4 November 2026.
