Regulation of Health and Social Care Professionals Consultation

Provisional Proposal 6-10: The statute should provide for two separate types
of guidance: tier one guidance which must be complied with unless there are
good reasons for not doing so, and tier two guidance which must be taken
into account and given due weight. The regulators would be required to state
in the document whether it is tier one guidance or tier two guidance.
Question 6-11: How should the legal framework deal with the regulators’
responsibilities in relation to professional ethics?
ONGOING STANDARDS OF PRACTICE
6.76 Until recently, as long as registered professionals continued to pay their fees and
was not the subject of fitness to practise proceedings, the regulator assumed
continued fitness to practise. However, as a consequence of the high profile
events outlined in Part 1, the regulators have placed more emphasis on ensuring
ongoing standards of conduct and practice. Moreover, scientific and clinical
advances in knowledge, changing roles in health and social care and rising
expectations have reinforced this development. The main mechanisms used by
the regulators are continuing professional development and revalidation.
Continuing professional development
6.77 Most of the regulators are given powers to make rules providing for continuing
education and training of registrants. Some of the regulators are under a duty to
issue such rules. For example, the General Dental Council must make rules to
require registered dentists and other dental care professionals to undertake such
professional training and development as may be specified in the rules. 58
Similarly, the General Pharmaceutical Council must set the standards for the safe
and effective practice of pharmacy which is necessary in order for registration to
be renewed and set the standards of continuing professional development. 59 At
most of the regulators, the completion of continuing professional development is
linked to the process of renewal of registration.
6.78 There are several models of continuing professional development. In most cases
the regulators are required to publish standards for continued professional
development and consult before issuing them. A failure to satisfy such
requirements can lead to a professional being removed from the register. A
practitioner can be required to undertake a certain number of hours of continued
professional development and it is left to the discretion of practitioners to decide
their own needs. Alternatively, the regulator may suggest hours and options for
training and monitor compliance. Some regulators have adopted a combination of
both approaches. The Nursing and Midwifery Council requires that in order to
maintain their registration, professionals must declare that they have completed
35 hours of continuing professional development in the previous three years (as
well as 450 hours of registered practice). The Council recommends that
registrants keep a portfolio of their continued professional development activity
and states that these will be audited. 60 However, in practice the portfolios are
58 Dentists Act 1984, ss 34A and 36Z(1).
59 Pharmacy Order 2010, SI 2010 No 231, art 43.
60 Nursing and Midwifery Council, Meeting the PREP Standards (2010).
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