Is patient safety and quality an election priority?

17/09/2009 - 13:45

The HPC hosts joint political party conference fringes

At this year’s main political party conferences the Health Professions Council (HPC) is holding fringe meetings for the first time with fringe partners the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the General Medical Council (GMC), and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). The top line question will be ‘Is patient safety and quality an election priority?’ where the future priorities for regulation will be debated.

The fringe meetings will have health representatives from the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties and the Chair of the Commons Health Select Committee to discuss their vision for the future of healthcare regulation in the UK. The meetings will be chaired by representatives from the King’s Fund.

Effective healthcare regulation is essential for patient safety, high quality care and professional and public confidence. It is constantly evolving to meet the demands of patient and service users, the public, the professions and politicians. Since the publication of the White Paper, Trust, Assurance and Safety: The regulation of health professionals in the 21st century, in 2007 there have been several significant developments; however, recent headlines on failings in patient care have brought regulation into the spotlight.

The HPC’s Chief Executive, Marc Seale, and the HPC’s Chair, Anna van der Gaag, will discuss the following:
“The existing plans to extend statutory regulation to psychotherapists and counsellors and a range of healthcare scientists needs to be completed in a reasonable timeframe, so that public protection can be increased.”
“The possibility of regulating other healthcare occupations, assistants and others currently outside regulation such as traditional Chinese medicine practitioners has been debated for years. As a society we now need to make a clear and unambiguous decision on how to proceed. We strongly believe that statutory regulation is necessary for the protection of members of the public.”

The first fringe meeting will be held on Monday 21 September 2009 at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth in the Avon Room at the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC). The Chair of the HPC, Anna van der Gaag, will be speaking at the fringe along with representatives from the GMC, NMC, CQC and Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Minister, Sandra Gidley MP.
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Notes to editors:

1.

2. Please note that these fringe events are held within the secure zone for each of the party conferences so if you are planning to attend you will need a conference pass.

3. These fringe events are part of the Health Hotel. For more information about other Health Hotel events and organisations involved please visit www.healthhotel.org.uk

4. For more information about our fringe partners visit:
• The Care Quality Commission (CQC) www.cqc.org.uk
• The General Medical Council (GMC) www.gmc-uk.org
• The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) www.nmc-uk.org

5. For information about routes to registration please see the HPC website www.hpc-uk.org/apply/

6. The Health Professions Council is an independent, UK-wide health regulator set up by the Health Professions Order (2001). The HPC keeps a register for fourteen different health professions and only registers people who meet the standards it sets for their training, professional skills, behaviour and health. The HPC will take action against people who do not meet these standards or who use a protected title illegally.

7. The HPC currently regulates the following 14 professions. Each of these professions has one or more ‘protected titles’. Anyone who uses one of these titles must register with the HPC. To see the full list of protected titles please see: www.hpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/protectedtitles/

• Arts therapists
• Biomedical scientists
• Chiropodists / podiatrists
• Clinical scientists
• Dietitians
• Occupational therapists
• Operating department practitioners
• Orthoptists
• Paramedics
• Physiotherapists
• Practitioner psychologists
• Prosthetists / orthotists
• Radiographers
• Speech and language therapists

Amy Morgan
+44 (0)20 7840 9137