White Paper - Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Profession

Healthcare Professional Regulation Strengthened  - 21 Feb 2007

Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century

A new White Paper outlines how the regulation of healthcare professionals will be “improved” to ensure the safety of patients. Trust, Assurance and Safety – The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century introduces measures to:

•  the professional regulators will be independent of Government and led by an equal partnership of independently appointed professionals and members of the public;
• all health professionals will be required to demonstrate periodically that they are fit to practise by revalidating their professional registration;
• moving from the criminal standard of proof to the civil standard with a sliding scale in fitness to practice cases;
• a stronger role for the medical Royal Colleges;
• introducing a system of regional GMC Affiliates who will provide support to local employers in addressing concerns about doctors and independently quality assure local revalidation processes.

 Guidance and Links:

• Main DH Link - http://tinyurl.com/yqaojo
• Reform of professional regulation and clinical governance - http://tinyurl.com/2ewk4w
• Historic reform to the regulation of health professionals - http://tinyurl.com/29f85y

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Executive Summary - Trust, Assurance and Safety - The Regulation of Health Profession
Introduction
This White Paper sets out a programme of reform to the United Kingdom’s system for the regulation of health professionals, based on consultation on the two reviews of professional regulation published in July 2006: Good doctors, safer patients by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England and the Department of Health’s ‘The regulation of the non-medical healthcare professions’. It is complemented by the Government’s response to the recommendations of the Fifth Report of the Shipman Inquiry and to the recommendations of the Ayling, Neale and Kerr/Haslam Inquiries, Safeguarding Patients, which sets out a range of measures to improve and enhance clinical governance in the NHS.
Full Document

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