Health, disability and registration

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Health, disability and registration

• Rachel Tripp, Director of Policy Standards

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Contents

• Role of HPC
• Background to the project
• The professional liaison group
• Key concerns
• The guidance
• Moving forward

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Health Professions Council

• Independent UK regulator
• Legal framework - derives powers from Health
  Professions Order 2001
• Function - statutory professional self-regulation
• Purpose to safeguard the health and well-being
  of persons using or needing the services of
  registrants Article 3(4)
• One of nine regulators
• Regulate thirteen professions

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Four key functions
sets Standards
HPC
Approves courses
Keeps a Register
Takes action if necessary
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Background to this work

• Queries received from
• Applicants to us
• Applicants to approved courses / parents
• Staff working in admissions in approved courses
• Doctors
• Employers

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Questions asked

• Can I be registered?
• Will my disability effect my registration?
• How can I assess this application to my course?
• Will I be able to get a health reference?
• How do your processes work?

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First steps

• Health, disability and registration policy
• Make sure that our processes
• are open and transparent
• comply with relevant legislation
• maintain the standards that we have set
• protect the public from health professionals
  whose fitness to practise may be impaired and
• are fair to the health professionals on our
  Register and to people who want to become
  registered.

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Professional Liaison Group (PLG)

• Membership
• Council members (professional and lay members)
• Representatives from professional bodies
• Representatives from education
• Representatives from disability groups /
  organisations.

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Work of PLG
To more general guidance that would allow
decisions to be made about individuals
Moved from impairment focussed, or condition
focussed.
Benefits of early consultation with stakeholders
and expertise of group
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Key points in process identified

• When someone applies to an approved course
• When someone applies to be registered with us and
  needs a health reference

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Drafting guidance key concerns

• Clear language
• Stand-alone documents
• Information for all parties in one document no
  secrets
• Use of examples to prompt thinking
• Making the process clear and giving full
  information explaining role of education
  providers, employers, etc.

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A disabled persons guide to becoming a health
professional

• Section for applicants
• Section for admissions staff
• To fulfil responsibility to HPC, approved courses
  need to ensure graduates can meet the Standards
  of Proficiency.

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Meeting the Standards of Proficiency

• Includes any reasonable adjustments
• Must go back to the standards
• Under DDA, these are competence standards which
  are required to practise a profession.
• Act as a tool to prompt thinking re adjustments

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Thinking about risk

• Individual assessment
• No assumptions
• Challenging notions of risk and disability
• Issues which came up around disability apply to
  everyone on the Register
• Talking through and documenting issues and ideas

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Registration vs. Employment

• Meet threshold standards
• Fitness to practise
• Not a guarantee of employment but is required
  for employment.

Meet person specification Fitness for
purpose Occupational health Reasonable
adjustments
This issue applies to everyone on the Register
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Personal scope of practice

• Individual responsibility to work within personal
  scope of practice
• Including taking action to adapt practice
• Managing fitness to practise document
• This issue applies to all health professionals

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Information about the health reference

• Section for applicants
• Section for doctors
• Not good health health not impairing fitness
  to practise
• Not fitness to work
• Do not need detailed medical history

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Information about the health reference

• Doctor is not asked to assess professional skills
  or likelihood of employment
• Professional opinion
• Insight and understanding
• Information about what happens when we receive
  reference.
• No applicant has yet been refused registration on
  health grounds.

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And now?

• Raising awareness of the documents including
  through Education processes
• Disability Rights Commission report, Maintaining
  Standards promoting equality
• Reviewing documents involving those who have
  used the guidance
• Future work?