Press Round-Up: Regulatory and Professional Discipline December 2017 - January 2018

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)

​The ACCA has been approved to authorise individuals and firms to carry out probate work following an application to the Legal Services Board. The ACCA Head of Standards, Ian Waters, stated:

“This is an important development for practitioners who will soon be able to provide highly valued and comprehensive support to their clients following a bereavement”

General Medical Council (GMC)

A report commissioned by the GMC has concluded that the medical profession is at ‘a crunch point’.

The ‘warning signs’ which stand out in the report are:

• The supply of new doctors into the UK has not kept up with demand;
• The UK’s reliance on non-UK qualified doctors has increased, ranging from 18 to 43 per cent across the country; and
• Notwithstanding the above, the UK is at risk of becoming a less attractive place for overseas doctors to work in.

Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

The Health and Care Professions Council published a response to the Department of Health’s consultation on the regulation of Medical Associate Professions, and stated that it is “ready and willing to be the regulator” for these professions if asked to do so.

The Medical Associate Professions include:

• Physician Associate (PA)
• Physicians’ Assistant (Anaesthesia) (PA(A))
• Surgical Care Practitioner (SCP)
• Advanced Critical Care Practitioner (ACCP)

Although closed to comment, the consultation can be viewed here 

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)

Mrs Justice Lang DBE has upheld the decision of the NMC’s Registrar regarding the indemnity arrangement relied on by members of Independent Midwives UK (IMUK), finding that it was ‘inappropriate’.

In short, the Registrar had determined that the indemnity arrangement did not provide appropriate cover for midwives to attending women in childbirth, as it could not meet a claim for catastrophic injury.