NHS Dismissal Guidance Advisor
Tell us what happened. We'll instantly work out your ACAS/tribunal deadline for free, then build you a personalised, AI-generated action plan — immediate steps, key deadlines, and whether regulator or DBS referral risk realistically applies to your situation.
New to all this? Read Dismissed from the NHS: What Happens Next first for the full picture.
Tell us what happened
Your personalised action plan
Your first AI-generated action plan is free on this device.
This tool gives general guidance, not legal advice, and is not a substitute for advice from ACAS, your trade union, or a specialist employment solicitor. FrontlinePay is an independent site and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, ACAS, the NHS, any NHS trust, NHS England, or any trade union or professional regulator.
Short answer
Enter your dismissal date and we calculate your ACAS Early Conciliation deadline for free, instantly — 3 months less a day from your effective date of termination for dismissals up to 30 September 2026, or 6 months less a day for dismissals from 1 October 2026 onwards. Then, your first AI-generated personalised action plan is also free — covering immediate practical steps, key deadlines, and whether professional regulator or DBS referral risk applies to your situation — with unlimited follow-up questions available via FrontlinePay Pro or a one-time unlock. This is general guidance, not legal advice — always confirm anything case-specific with ACAS, your union, or a solicitor.
What this tool does, in two parts
The dismissal deadline calculation is deterministic and free — no AI involved, and it never leaves your browser as anything more than a date calculation. The action plan and follow-up chat are powered by Google's Gemini model, given the structured details you enter (your role, years of service, dismissal category, professional registration, and dates) — it never invents facts about your case that you haven't told it, and it's built to be cautious rather than confident where your situation is genuinely uncertain.
Why the deadline calculation matters so much
Missing the ACAS/tribunal time limit — even by a single day — will generally mean a tribunal has no power to hear your claim at all, however strong it might otherwise have been. That's why this result is shown immediately and prominently, free, before you even reach the AI action plan below it.
⚠Work out your effective date of termination carefully
Your effective date of termination isn't always simply "the day I was told" — particularly if you were paid in lieu of notice, dismissed with effect from a future date, or your dismissal is confirmed by a later letter after a verbal decision. If you're at all unsure, treat the date you enter as an estimate and confirm the real one with ACAS or your union rep well before the deadline shown here.
What the AI action plan covers
- ✓ A plain-English summary of your specific situation, based on what you've told it
- ✓ 3-5 prioritised, concrete immediate steps for the first one to two weeks
- ✓ The key deadlines actually relevant to your case, not a generic list
- ✓ A hedged note on whether professional regulator (NMC/GMC/HCPC) or DBS referral risk realistically applies to your situation
- ✓ Specific pages on this site worth reading next, matched to your situation
What it deliberately won't do
It won't tell you whether to appeal, whether you'll win at tribunal, or what your case is worth — no AI tool honestly can, without seeing your full facts and evidence. It's built to consistently point you toward ACAS, your trade union or Royal College, or a specialist employment solicitor for anything that depends on the specifics of your case, in the same spirit as our pillar guide, Dismissed from the NHS: What Happens Next.
Why trust this tool
- ✓ Deadline rule sourced directly from the same verified legal position used in our pillar guide, figures correct as of September 2026
- ✓ The deadline calculation runs entirely from your dismissal date using fixed, named constants — no AI involved in that part at all
- ✓ The AI system prompt is instructed to never give definitive legal advice or predict a case outcome, and to consistently redirect to ACAS, your union, or a solicitor
- ✓ One free AI-generated action plan per device — no account trickery, no hidden second call
- ✓ Your intake details and the AI's response are logged only for quality review, never shared or sold
More tools & guides
Dismissed from the NHS: What Happens Next
The full picture: pay owed, appeals, tribunal time limits, regulator and DBS referrals.
NHS Disciplinary and Misconduct Process
The investigation, hearing and appeal stages that lead up to a dismissal decision.
Fitness to Practise Explained
How a separate regulator investigation by the NMC, GMC or HCPC actually works.
NHS Whistleblowing Rights
Legal protection with no minimum service requirement, if your dismissal is linked to raising a concern.
NHS Redundancy Pay Calculator
Useful contrast if your situation is really a redundancy rather than a dismissal.
NHS Staff Representation Explained
Which unions can actually represent you at an appeal or through a tribunal claim.
Frequently asked questions
Is this tool a substitute for a solicitor or my union? +
No, and it's built deliberately not to be. The AI never tells you what to decide, never claims you have (or don't have) a winning case, and always points you toward ACAS, your trade union or Royal College, or a specialist employment solicitor for anything specific to your own facts and evidence. It's a starting point for organising your thinking and not missing a deadline, not a replacement for advice tailored to your case.
How is the ACAS/tribunal deadline calculated? +
The free deadline result uses the same rule set out in our pillar guide, Dismissed from the NHS: What Happens Next — 3 months less a day from your effective date of termination for dismissals up to 30 September 2026, extending to 6 months less a day for dismissals on or after 1 October 2026. It calculates from the dismissal date you enter, not from today, since the rule that applies depends on when your dismissal happened.
Is the deadline result free, or does it need Pro? +
The ACAS/tribunal deadline calculation is completely free and always visible once you've entered your dismissal date — no account, no payment, and no AI call involved. Only the AI-generated personalised action plan and follow-up questions are gated after your first free use.
How many free AI questions do I get? +
One. Your first personalised action plan is free on this device. After that, unlocking the AI Dismissal Guidance tool (£14.99, 90 days) or FrontlinePay Pro gives you unlimited follow-up questions grounded in your own situation.
Does the AI know about my specific trust's policies? +
No — it works from general UK employment law (the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the current 2026/2027 reforms, the Equality Act 2010, the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006) and what you tell it about your own situation, not your trust's specific disciplinary policy. Always check your own trust's disciplinary and appeals policy alongside this tool's guidance.
What if I'm not sure why I was dismissed, or the category doesn't fit? +
Choose "Not sure / not clearly stated" — the AI will still give you general orientation and flag that clarifying the actual reason in writing from your trust is one of the first things worth doing, since it affects notice pay, appeal grounds, and any tribunal claim.