Health Professions Adjudicator is abandoned
Appeared in HPM Bulletin 521 (28 Jul 2010)
Filed under : NHS reforms
Labour's scheme for a new body to regulate fitness to practice issues has been dropped by the new Government, Health Under Secretary Anne Milton said in a Ministerial statement on 26 Jul.
Ms Milton said: "The Government have been considering the case for proceeding with work surrounding the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator (OHPA).
"OHPA was established in law in January of this year, but is not yet operationally active. It was anticipated previously that, from April 2011, it was to take over from the General Medical Council (GMC) the role of adjudicating on fitness to practise matters relating to doctors and, in due course, take on the adjudication role in relation to other health professionals from the remaining health regulators.
"Having reviewed the case for OHPA the Government are not persuaded that the creation of another body is necessarily the most appropriate and proportionate way forward in terms of adjudication. We believe that steps can be taken to strengthen and modernise existing systems within the GMC to deliver substantially the same benefits as OHPA. The learning from these steps can then be reviewed and, in due course, applied to the other health regulators. We intend to consult with external partners on this approach shortly."
