The proposals in the consultation Promoting professionalism, reforming regulation could affect how employers determine the suitability and fitness to practise of healthcare professionals in their workforce.
The proposals which will impact employers include:
- Streamlining of the regulatory system to make it easier for employers, who often need to interact with numerous different bodies responsible for regulation, to navigate
- Reduction in the number of healthcare professionals that fall under statutory regulation
- Having a consistent set of standards which are underpinned by profession specific codes so that individuals are managed in a consistent and supportive manner
- Changing how fitness to practise procedures are carried out to ensure greater interaction with registrants early on to ensure issues are dealt with in a proportionate and responsive way
- Developing a flexible workforce that is more responsive in meeting the challenges in delivering healthcare in the future
It is important that this consultation helps develop a modern system of healthcare regulation which can meet the demands of a rapidly changing health and social care landscape.
NHS Employers will be preparing a collective response to the consultation on behalf of employers. If you would like your feedback to be considered for inclusion in our response, you can respond in either of the following ways:
- by completing our online survey
- by emailing us at regulation@nhsemployers.org
We would be interested to hear your views on what works in the current system, what are the challenges and whether the proposals outlined in the consultation paper will address some of these issues. If not, what other considerations do you think should be taken into account?
We would also urge employers to provide feedback directly to the Department of Health by 23 January 2018.