December 2023
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This conference discussed the future for professional healthcare regulation in the UK.
Stakeholders and policymakers considered latest developments and next steps for regulation with legislative reform underway affecting the General Medical Council, and with the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Health and Care Professions Council next to go through a similar process.
It was an opportunity to discuss the approach for legislative reform at the GMC and what this means for the other regulatory councils, as well as opportunities and challenges presented, and the timelines for future reform.
Delegates assessed proposals for changes to fitness to practise regulation systems, the proposed three-tiered system, and considerations for adverse health going forward.
Further sessions looked at priorities for ensuring that reform can ensure safety for patients and delivery of quality care in ways that also meets the needs of a modern workforce. Delegates also discussed the wider landscape for professional regulation following the pandemic.
We are pleased to have been able to include a keynote session with: Phil Harper, Deputy Director, Professional Regulation; and Sean Marchesi-Denham, Deputy Branch Head, Professional Regulation, Department of Health and Social Care. There will be further contributions from: Tim Aldrich, Assistant Director, Regulatory Reform, General Medical Council; Christine Elliott, Chair of Council, Health and Care Professional Council;Thomas Reynolds, Head of Policy and Strategic Communications, Medical Defence Union; and Alan Clamp, Chief Executive, Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care.
Overall, areas for discussion included:
- reform: stakeholder perspectives on proposals - changes in the approach to regulation - developing an overarching set of criteria for regulation - improving regulatory efficiency
- workforce: developing standards and programmes to support regulated workforce professionalism and delivery of high quality care - preparing the workforce for new healthcare models
- leadership: the future for regulation of health leaders - what successful leadership and development of system-level working looks like - addressing variation - senior-level education and training
- adapting to change: ways regulation can respond to changes affecting the workforce - increasing workload - growth in digital innovation - types of conditions and co-morbidities
- patient safety: aligning reform with patient safety policy - developing the role of regulation in promoting safe practices and improving workforce culture - impact of the Ockenden report
- streamlining regulatory structures:
- developing effective frameworks and processes to support decisions on streamlining - ensuring capacity for any proposed changes to be effectively delivered
- key opportunities for data-sharing between regulators - avoiding duplication and tackling logistical challenges
- fitness to practise: implications of reform for public safety, health and wellbeing - data use and evidence - tackling issues found to be disproportionately affecting ethnic minority staff
- integration: the role of regulation in supporting ICS delivery as health professionals work closer in more integrated healthcare
- indemnity: tackling increasing costs of claims - addressing resource challenges - key priorities for reforming the regulatory process - improving quality of care
The conference was an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside key policy officials who attended from the CQC; Department of Health, ROI; DHSC; HSE; MHRA; NAO; The Scottish Government; and the Welsh Government.
