The Health Professions Council and assistant practitioners

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(No Transcript)
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The Health Professions Council and assistant
practitioners

• Rachel Tripp
• Director of Policy Standards

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Overview

• About the HPC
• Assistant practitioners and regulation
• Some issues to resolve
• Recent policy developments
• The Scottish pilot project

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About the HPC
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Health Professions Council

• Independent UK regulator
• Health Professions Order 2001
• Statutory professional self-regulation
• Purpose to safeguard the health and well-being
  of persons using or needing the services of
  registrants Article 3(4)

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Regulator must be separate
Introduction Separation...
Regulator
Protection of the public
Trade Association
Professional Body
Professional issues
Employment issues
RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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13 professions

• Art therapists
• Biomedical scientists
• Chiropodist podiatrists
• Clinical scientists
• Dietitians
• Occupational therapists
• Operating department practitioners

• Orthoptists
• Paramedics
• Physiotherapists
• Prosthetists orthotists
• Radiographers
• Speech language therapists

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Four key processes
sets Standards
HPC
approves courses that meet them
registers those who pass them
holds them to its standards
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Setting Standards

• Standards for Conduct, Performance and Ethics
  (July 2003)
• Standards of Proficiency (July 2003)
• Standards of Education and Training (July 2004)
• Standards for Continuing Professional Development
  (July 2005)

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Standards of Education Training
Standards ET...

• Six components
• Level of qualification for entry to the register
• Programme admissions procedures
• Programme management resources
• Curriculum
• Practice placements
• Assessment

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Standards of Proficiency
Standards Proficiency...

• Threshold standards for entry to Register
• Two components
• Shared
• Profession specific

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Standards of Conduct, Performance Ethics
Standards CPE...

• Apply to registrants prospective registrants
• Conduct, (4)
• 3. Maintain high standards of personal conduct
• Performance, (8)
• 10. Keep accurate patient, client and user
  records
• Ethics, (4)
• 14.Behave with integrity honesty

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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New standards for CPD

• A registrant must
• maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate
  record of their CPD activities
• demonstrate that their CPD activities are a
  mixture of learning activities relevant to
  current and future practice
• seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to
  the quality of their practice and service
  delivery
• seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the
  service user
• present a written profile containing evidence of
  their CPD on request.

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160,000 registrants,13 Professions
Process Number of Registrants...
RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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The Register
Process The Register...

• Re-register every two years
• SoP, CPD health self-certification
• Returners to practise
• Less than two years
• Between two five years
• More than five years
• Public vs. Private

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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International Migration
Process Register International...

• 400 applications per month
• Applications looked at by Registration Assessors.
  Registered members of professions
• Against Standards of Proficiency

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Grandparenting
Process Register Grandparenting...

• Process starts as new titles are protected
• Sets aside existing educational requirements
• Applicants must demonstrate lawful, safe
  effective practice
• Normally a two year window
• 200 fee

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Fitness to Practise
Process F2P...

• Allegation against Registrant
• Fitness to practise may be below standard
• Conduct, Competence Health
• Balance
• Protection of public vs.human rights of
  registrants
• Uses two key principles
• Proportionality reasonableness
• Allegations handled in parallel with other
  organisations

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Fitness to Practise process
Process F2P Process...
Allegation
Interim Orders
Mediation
Investigating
Conduct Competence
Health
RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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HPC committed to the protection of professional
titles
Process Protected Titles...

• Article 39 Criminal offence
• Communicate sanctions for misuse
• State Registration or SR
• The use of the phrase or abbreviation discouraged
• HPC will prosecute

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Council discharges some duties via 450 Partners
SO Partners...

• Legal Assessors
• Legal advice to Fitness to Practise panels
• Panel members
• Make decisions about fitness to practise
• Professionals and lay people
• Registration Assessors
• Assess prospective international some
  grandparenting applications
• Visitors
• Assist with approval of programmes

RefHPC/MJS/HPC/January 2005
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Healthcare support workers
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The future shape of the workforce?
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8
9 Assistant
Practitioner
Advanced
Associate
Specialist Consultant
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Assistant practitioners and regulation

• Protected titles?
• Educational routes to registration?
• Cost of regulation?
• Codes of ethics autonomy and accountability?
• Which groups should be included?

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Assistant practitioners background

• Department of Health consultation 2004
• Recognition of increasing numbers, and role of
  assistant practitioners
• Proposed regulation of healthcare support staff
  by HPC
• HPC response - agreed. Suggested phased approach

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The Foster reviewThe regulation of the
non-medical healthcare professions

• Results of DH and SE consultation
• Majority in favour
• Felt more debate needed
• Importance of joint working
• Scottish pilot project employer led regulation

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Scottish pilot project

• Employer led regulation
• Induction standards
• Code of conduct
• Code of practice for employers
• www.workinginhealth.com
• Results of pilot will inform future arrangements

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HPCs position

• Useful work around engaging with employers,
  establishing standards.
• Information must be shared between employers to
  protect the public
• Some form of UK-wide statutory regulation is
  still necessary
• Already a precedent for this in dentistry and
  social work

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