Health
Health & Care Professions Council
HCPC launches Corporate Plan for 2023-2024
The HCPC launched its Corporate Plan at the beginning of May, with a focus on three key themes to supports its primary purpose of protecting the public. The themes identified are (i) improving the experience of registrants and others who engage with the HCPC; (ii) contributing to sector-wide workforce planning and resilience; (iii) driving forward efficiencies and innovation in how we work.
General Pharmaceutical Council
GPhC launches consultation on fees; hosts wellbeing roundtable
The GPhC is consulting on proposals to increase fees from April 2024.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society and Pharmacist Support hosted key stakeholders at a roundtable on the impact of pharmacy workforce wellbeing on patient safety.
General Medical Council
The GMC has submitted a response to the Department of Health and Social Care’s consultation “Regulating anaesthesia associates (AAs) and physician associates (PAs)”
AAs and PAs will in future be regulated by the GMC; the GMC sees the reforms as a template for the regulation of other healthcare professionals, including doctors. The GMC says the “proposed legislation is a crucial step in enabling it to take a compassionate approach to regulation”, identifying benefits including a simpler and streamlined regulatory framework, a faster and less adversarial processes, greater autonomy, and an end to the “five year rule” i.e. allowing complaints to be considered relating to matters more than 5 years old.
However, some issues were raised by the GMC, including in relation to the plan to reduce the grounds on which fitness to practise action can be taken to two: inability to provide care to a sufficient standard, and misconduct. The GMC expresses concern that removing ‘adverse health’ as a ground risks unintended consequences and undermine a compassionate approach to managing registrants’ health concerns.
Nursing & Midwifery Council
NMC comments on proposed regulation for Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates; celebrates record numbers on the register
Assistant Director of Regulatory Reform, John Lucarotti, reflects that the legislation will be a template for replacing the NMC’s existing legal framework and will affect the regulation of all health and care professionals in the UK. He says that, on the whole, the NMC are happy with the proposals, in that the draft Order provides “a clearer, more coherent approach to regulation” and “largely aligns with our aspirations for reform and would provide us with the flexibility to make further improvements”; however, there are areas where there is insufficient clarity, and greater powers are recommended in relation to closing cases down at an early stage, greater flexibility over revision and appeals processes, and a more straightforward approach to register readmissions.
The NMC also celebrated that the register of nurses, midwives and nursing associates has grown to a record 788,638 people, with a record 52,148 new joiners last year.
General Dental Council
GDC responses to government’s consultation on the regulation of PAs and AAs
The GDC also set out its views on the government’s consultation and its implications for wider reform. The GDC expressed support for the intentions behind the reform, but held concerns about how effective the proposals would be in modernising healthcare regulation. There was also significant concern about the lack of any timetable for reform of the Dentists Act.
Finance
Financial Reporting Council
FRC launches consultation on revision to the Corporate Governance Code
The FRC launched a public consultation on 24 May 2023, on proposed revisions to the UK Corporate Governance Code. The revision is aimed to enhance the Code’s effectiveness in promoting good corporate governance, with five primary areas of focus:
- Revising those parts of the Code that deal with the need for a framework of prudent and effective controls to provide a stronger basis for reporting on and evidencing their effectiveness.
- Making necessary revisions to reflect the responsibilities of the board and audit committee for sustainability and ESG reporting and appropriate assurance in accordance with a company's audit and assurance policy.
- Amending the Code to take account of the new Audit Committee Standard (Audit Committees and the External Audit: Minimum Standard).
- Improving the functioning of comply-or-explain where reporting is currently weaker, taking account of recently published FRC research and reports.
- Updating the Code to ensure that it aligns with changes to legal and regulatory requirements as set out in the Government's response to the White Paper, including strengthening reporting on malus and clawback arrangements.
The FRC will also review the existing guidance which supports the Code: Guidance on Audit Committees, Guidance on Board effectiveness, and Guidance on risk management, internal control and related financial and business reporting.
The consultation can be found here and will close on 13 September 2023.
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