Stephanie J Allen
Introduction
Stephanie J Allen is a speech and language therapist who was suspended from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register after panels found she was convicted of driving with excess alcohol in June 2022 and did not disclose the conviction to her regulator as soon as she could have done — notifying it more than a year later. Her four-month suspension, imposed in November 2025, has been extended twice: in April 2026, and again for six months in September 2026, with panels finding insufficient evidence of insight, remediation or engagement. The case appears on MedicWatch’s independent record of regulator determinations, on the official HCPTS hearings site, and on MedicWatch’s suspensions list.
Background Information
Allen was employed by North Bristol NHS Trust as a Space Manager Commissioner in the Estates and Facilities Department — a role that did not require HCPC registration but for which she remained a registered speech and language therapist. In the early hours of 8 June 2022 police observed her driving erratically on Winchester Road, Andover, Hampshire, and stopped her; she failed a roadside breath test and was arrested. At Basingstoke Police Station the lower of two breathalyser readings was 66 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, against a legal limit of 35. On 23 June 2022 she was convicted at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court of driving with excess alcohol, contrary to section 5(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted of drink-driving, then silent for a year. The conviction was proved; so was the failure to notify the HCPC promptly, found as misconduct.
The HCPC learned of the conviction only on 3 July 2023, when Allen submitted a self-referral form — a year and more after the conviction — having been in contact with the regulator by email and letter in the preceding weeks to say she had only recently become aware that she was required to notify it. The November 2025 substantive panel found the conviction proved and the failure to disclose as soon as she could have done proved, held the non-disclosure to be misconduct, found her fitness to practise impaired by both conviction and misconduct, and imposed a four-month suspension order.
The suspension was reviewed on 2 April 2026 in her absence; that panel had nothing to satisfy it the deficiencies had been addressed, found impairment persisted on both personal and public components, and extended the suspension. At the third review, on 3 September 2026 — again in her absence, though she responded by email weeks earlier without seeking an adjournment — the panel found continuing impairment, a risk of repetition, and rejected a caution order as insufficient, extending the suspension for six months from 16 October 2026 with a further review before 16 April 2027. It considered removal disproportionate at this stage and allowed another opportunity to engage.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The panels’ reasoning turned on the notify duty: a conviction for driving with excess alcohol is one the HCPC requires registrants to disclose promptly precisely because it bears on their character and on public confidence, and the finding was that Allen’s year of silence was itself misconduct. Each review has weighed the same absence — no steps to address the concerns and no insight expressed since the substantive hearing — and each has concluded only a suspension maintains confidence. Allen is listed on MedicWatch’s public suspensions list among suspended allied-health practitioners.
Current Status
Allen is suspended from the HCPC register under an order running from 16 October 2026 for six months, with a review required before its expiry on 16 April 2027. She cannot practise as a speech and language therapist while the order is in force. The route back set by the panels is engagement: demonstration of insight into both the conviction and the year-long failure to disclose, and remediation evidence that no review panel has yet received. Part of the September 2026 hearing was conducted in private to protect her health and private life.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Allen has not been able to practise as a registered speech and language therapist since November 2025, with the suspension now extended into 2027. The recorded finding — a drink-driving conviction concealed from her regulator for a year, then a failure to engage with three panels — will confront any future application. The determination remains permanently searchable on the official hearings site and on independent records such as MedicWatch.