New professional regulation measures in the UK

At a time when significant reform of the regulation of health professions is underway in Australia, members may be interested to note the parallel developments occurring in the UK.

The UK Department of Health has published a White Paper which outlines how they propose the regulation of healthcare professionals will be 'improved' to ensure the safety of patients.

The White Paper called 'Trust, Assurance and Safety – The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century' introduces measures to:
• make regulators more independent by appointing council members and an independent adjudicator for doctors
• revalidate healthcare professionals throughout their career and ensure they remain up to date with clinical best practice
• create a regional General Medical Council (GMC) Affiliates system to help deal with more cases at a local level.

Links:
Reform of professional regulation and clinical governance
Historic reform to the regulation of health professionals - DH press release (opens new window)