STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALISM

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STUDENTS AND PROFESSIONALISM

• Rosemary Macalister-Smith
• Council for Healthcare Regulatory
• Excellence
• Head of Policy, Research and External
• Relations

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CHRE

• Statutory aim to protect, promote and maintain
  public and patient safety.
• Promote the interests of patients and the public
  in relation to regulated healthcare professions
• Promote best practice in regulation
• Develop principles of good regulation
• Promote co-operation between the regulators, and
  with other organisations

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BACKGROUND TO SCOPING STUDY

• Behaviour of students during their courses of
  study
• Fair and equitable treatment
• Promote professional values for students through
  a collaborative approach to ensure student FtP
• Develop common values for all healthcare
  students

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STUDENT FITNESS TO PRACTICE / PROFESSIONALISM

• Student fitness to practise can be defined as
• assessing a students suitability to practise a
  specific profession, particularly in relation to
  their behaviour and health, whilst they are in
  education and training

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WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

• To promote good practice and prevent bad practice
• Three objectives for enhancing student engagement
  identified
• Instilling professional values throughout
  training
• Having robust and consistent procedures to
  respond to concerns about students conduct or
  health.
• Achieving a good fit between the approach by
  education providers in relation to students and
  the approach taken by the regulators in relation
  to registrants.

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OVERVIEW OF STUDY

• Overall objective Promote professional values
  for students, through a collaborative approach
  amongst regulators, as a way to seek to ensure
  student fitness to practise
• Specifically
• Sharing learning on current practice
• Identifying values for students
• Next steps

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Main Findings of Study and Seminar

• Methods to instil professional values
• Developing professional standards
• Ensuring students have high quality clinical
  experience which demonstrates professionalism
• Regulatory interventions
• Quality assuring education providers against
  education and professional standards
• Linking education standards with registration
• Developing consistency in local student fitness
  to practise procedures

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Cont

• Student fitness to practise in local arrangements
• Considering common professional values
• Boundaries of behaviour
• Student registration

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SEMINAR STATEMENT

• Ensuring student professionalism and fitness to
  practice minimises the risk of future patient
  harm by identifying and managing concerns at an
  early stage and through instilling and developing
  professional values

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ADVICE TO MINISTERS

• Are appropriate systems in place to assure the
  public about fitness of healthcare students
• Should students have relationships with their
  future RB prior to qualification
• What might this mean and how can it be achieved

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CONSULTATION PROCESS

• Regulatory bodies, devolved administrations,
  higher education, service, patients and the
  public
• Source materials
• Scoping study information
• Papadakis et al
• NCAS information

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PAPADAKIS

• Little previous research evidence
• Professionalism is central to a good physician
• Disciplinary action against physicians associated
  with reported incidents of unprofessional
  behaviour in medical school

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Defining unprofessional behaviour

• Sudden and unpredictable outbursts
• Rude and abusive to patients and colleagues
• Intimidation
• Bullying
• Profane and disrespectful behaviour
• Sexual harassment and racial jokes
• Resistance to corrective action
• Blaming others

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CONSULTATION RESULTS

• Professionalism and regulation should be taught
  throughout the curriculum
• Patients at risk from student practise
• HEIs to have Fitness to Practice committees
• RBs and HEIs to agree a Code of Conduct for
  students
• Student registration???

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• PROFESSIONALISM MATTERS AND IT MATTERS
  PROFESSIONALLY

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Any questions?

• Rosemary Macalister-Smith
• www.chre.org.uk
• rosemary.macalister-smith_at_chre.org.uk