119 Students on professional courses need to be able to show that they are fit to practise. Physical or mental health difficulties alone will not usually give rise to concerns about a student’s fitness for practice, but they may do if the student doesn’t seek appropriate help or is not managing their condition well. We have published good practice guidance on Fitness to practise.
120Normally, asking for additional consideration will not give rise to concerns about a student’s fitness to practise: it is the appropriate route to follow if a student’s performance or attendance at assessments has been affected by circumstances beyond their control.
121 But there may be some occasions where, because of the nature of the student’s request for additional consideration, the provider may need to consider if there are any implications in terms of their fitness to practise. For instance, if they are suffering from health problems that might affect the safety of patients or service users, but they have not taken appropriate steps to manage this. The student should be offered appropriate support and guidance. But where the concerns can’t be remedied in this way, the student may need to be referred to the provider’s fitness to practise procedure. The student should be supported through the process and it may be appropriate for the provider to ask the student to provide more information and evidence about their ill-health or ask the student to attend an occupational health assessment.
