Health and Conduct Procedures

The School of Medicine expects students to adhere to the standards of behaviour and conduct compatible with their responsibilities as students and their future profession. The School has a responsibility for recognizing students whose behaviour or conduct is sufficiently inappropriate to be incompatible with the registration standards required by the GMC.

The Health and Conduct Committee in the School of Medicine deals with issues related fitness to practice that arise from student’s health and or conduct. Identifying symptoms early on enables the School to assist the student obtain the support and guidance for overcoming the difficulties that the student is experiencing. Ill-health may also prevent students undertaking their studies or discharging their duties as a student or, in the future, as a doctor.

Concerns about a student may initially be raised by a teacher, Personal Tutor or Sub-Dean. The School’s Director of Student Progression or an appropriate Sub-Dean will interview the student concerned and report back to the School Progress Committee. If the problem is not potentially serious, the student may be referred for counselling/monitoring by Occupational Health and/or help as appropriate and his/her progress monitored as necessary by the School Progress Committee.

If the problem is potentially serious, then the student will be referred to the School’s Health and Conduct Committee (HCC). A leaflet highlighting the work of the HCC can be downloaded here.

If the committee judges that the student continuing on the programme will not place patients and others at risk, the student may remain on the programme (subject, where necessary, the University’s Disciplinary Regulations). In the most extreme cases of problems of health or conduct, the University of Leeds will not allow a student to graduate MBChB, even if his or her academic progress is satisfactory. Cases that cannot be resolved locally are referred to the University’s committee on Student Health and Conduct.

Since the committee’s inception in 2005/6, four students have been permanently withdrawn as a result of failing to meet the required fitness to practise standards. However, referral to the HCC is fortunately a rare event and always relates to serious issues that might impact on the competence of the student, the reputation of the School, University and Medical Profession or patient safety.