1. Consultation on Professional Regulation
Robert Farley & Gill Cresswell
Healthcare Science Subgroup

2. Current situation
38 professions and 9 regulators – total operating cost £288 million
> 1.5 million registered professionals / premises
Regulators overseen by the Professional Standards Authority
Different regulators for some professions in different parts of uk
HCPC 2nd largest regulator with > 340,000 registrants
Different approaches and systems by the different regulators
Considerable variation in registration fees
@NHS_HealthEdEng #insertcampaignhashtag

3. Background
Law Commissions’ comprehensive review of legal framework in 2014
Government response to review 2015
Pre-consultation events in 2016 identified three key themes:
protecting the public;
responsive regulation; and
efficient regulation.

4. Background
PSA sets out proposals in Regulation Rethought in 2016, including:
single register for all professions;
common standards;
shared approach to fitness to practise;
a new approach to education;
co-operative working and sharing of data with other organisations; and
cost effectiveness

5. 2017 / 2018
Children & Social Work Act 2017 prepares way for regulatory reform by establishing a new body Social Work England.
Consultation on Professional reform opened (closing date 23rd January)
Can be completed online or by using attached response sheet.

6. The Consultation Encompasses all four UK governments Aims to:
“design a more responsive model of professional regulation which can swiftly adapt to changing patterns of healthcare, develop new roles and new ways of working without the need for frequent legislative change;
establish clear criteria to assess which level of professional regulatory oversight is appropriate for different professional groups;
consider whether the current number and set up of healthcare regulatory bodies is delivering effective and efficient public protection;
ensure that regulatory bodies have a consistent and flexible range of powers that allow them to take a prompt and proportionate approach to concerns about an individual’s fitness to practise;
enable regulators, working with professional bodies and others, to better support professionalism among registered groups and to provide assurance on an ongoing basis that practitioners are competent and up to date; and
increase joint-working, sharing functions and services between the regulators.”

7. The consultation Comprises 24 questions Looks at 4 main areas
protecting the public;
responsive regulation;
efficient regulation;
impact assessment; and
equality analysis.

8. Protecting the public Role of PSA Use of prohibition orders
Reduction in number of regulators (3 or 4)
Reassessment of registered professions

9. Responsive Regulation
Role of PSA in setting standards
Powers for resolving fitness to practise
Use of mediation in fitness to practise
Supporting professionalism
Education & approval of courses
Revalidation

10. Efficient Regulation Costs Joint working Shared register
Generic standards
Data sharing with other organisations (e.g. employers)
Governance
Fees

11. Impact & Equality Assessments
How do you measure the effects on public protection and patient safety?

12. Responding to the consultation
Allow plenty of time and read the guidance
Note: some, seemingly similar, questions phrased differently from the guidance!
Suggest responding using the questionnaire as several questions online are restricted to agree or disagree
Think carefully about the wider implications – incorporate clarification into your answers

13. Finally…
Be aware of publications and the arguments from other organisations…