An update on the Health Professions Council

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An update on the Health Professions Council

• Rachel Tripp the Hospital Physicists
  Association Conference
• November 2nd 2007

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Todays presentation

• About the HPC
• CPD standards
• The White Paper

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What are the underlying principles of
professionalregulation in the UK?

• Self regulation
• Professionally led
• Statutory regulation
• UK model
• - Protection of Title vs Function
• Independent of government

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HPCs main objective

• To safeguard the health and well-being of
  persons using or needing the services of
  registrants
• Health Professions Order 2001
• Article 3 (4)

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How do we achieve this?

• Register
• Standards
• Fitness to Practice
• Communications

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Regulator must be separate and independent
Regulator
Government
Trade Association
Professional Body
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Complementary roles

• Professional Body- Learned Society- Promotion
  and development of profession- Curriculum
  framework
• Trade Association- Terms conditions
• Regulator- Sets and maintains standards -
  Approves programmes - Keeps a register -
  Fitness to Practise - Continuing Professional
  Development (CPD)

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182,000 registrants,13 Professions
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Standards

• Standards of Proficiency
• Standards of conduct, performance and ethics
• Standards of Education and Training
• Standards for CPD

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Fitness to Practise process
Allegation
Interim Orders
Investigation
Mediation
Conduct Competence
Health
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HPCs role within a wider context

• Healthcare Commission report on trends in
  complaints
• January 2007, 16,000 complaints received over 2
  years
• What do patients want?
• - Better explanation of what went wrong 33
• - Service improvements 23
• - An apology 10
• - The event acknowledged 9
• - Action against staff 8
• - The same thing not to happen again 8

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Continuing Professional Development and HPC

• Standards (5) introduced in July 2005
• HPC requires all professionals to undertake CPD
  on a regular basis
• Audit will begin in July 2008

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Standards of CPD
Standards CPD...

• Maintain up-to-date record in whatever format
  is helpful
• Mixture of activities relevant to current or
  future practice
• Contributes to quality of practice
• Benefits service user

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/Oct 2007
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CPD audit process

• Profile
• Statement of current practice
• Description of how CPD meets standards
• Assessed by at least two CPD Assessors
• Met / not met / further information
• Further 3 months if required
• Can have registration lapsed
• Subject to appeals process

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CPD finding out more

• Your guide to the HPCs CPD standards
• Continuing Professional Development and
  registration
• Sample profiles

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Trust, assurance and safety the regulation of
health professionals in the 21st century

• Background to the White Papers publication
• The Shipman report
• The Donaldson review of medical regulation
• The Foster review of non-medical regulation
• The White Paper February 2005

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Key messages in the White Paper

• ? Affirmation of the vast majority of health
  professionals
• ? Need to make systemic changes alongside
  regulation reforms- e.g. clinical governance,
  coroners systems, death certification systems,
  controlled drugs, complaints systems

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White Paper reforms to regulation

• Greater consistency between regulators
• Fitness to practise processes
• Standard of proof
• Common standards?

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White Paper reforms to regulation

• Improving the structure of the regulators
• Appointed Council members
• Smaller Councils
• Separation of strategic function from
  decision-making

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White Paper reforms to regulation

• Revalidation
• Positive demonstration of fitness to practise
  every 5 years
• 3 groups
• Employees of an approved body part of appraisal
  and management systems
• Self-employed contractors revalidation in
  collaboration between NHS commissioner and
  regulator
• Others revalidation carried out by the
  regulator

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White Paper reforms to regulation

• Revalidation key questions
• Risk?
• Standards?
• Assessment against those standards?
• Cost?
• Set up a professional liaison group (PLG) to look
  at continuing fitness to practise more broadly.
• Also looking at post-registration qualifications
  and marking the Register.

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White Paper reforms to regulation

• Regulation of aspirant groups
• No additional regulators new groups normally be
  regulated by HPC
• Psychologists, healthcare scientists,
  psychotherapists and counsellors
• Also mentioned the regulation of acupuncture,
  traditional chinese medicine and herbal medicine
• Establishing a working group to look at
  regulation of other groups, including criteria
  and priorities

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• Any questions
• ?