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Regulators’ update

Health and care regulators

General Dental Council

GDC publishes outcome of consultation on principles of specialist listing

The GDC has published its report on the outcome of its consultation on the principles of specialist listing. The consultation ran from 21 January to 25 April 2019. You can find out more from the GDC’s website or download the report.

General Osteopathic Council

Independent survey asking osteopaths about their views and experiences of regulation

The University of Warwick has funded Professor Gerry McGivern and his team to run the new independent survey, which follows on from a previous survey in 2014. The 2014 survey explored the factors that encourage or inhibit compliance with the Osteopathic Practice Standards. The survey runs from 20 January until 25 February 2020. You can find out more from the GOsC’s website.

General Pharmaceutical Council

GPhC launches fees consultation

The GPhC is consulting on proposals to increase registration fees for pharmacy premises from £262 to £365. In this consultation, the GPhC is seeking views on whether the fees paid by pharmacy owners should cover the full costs of regulating pharmacy premises.

The consultation is open until 31 March 2020 and you can find out more details on the GPhC’s website.

New guide explains what people can expect when visiting a pharmacy

The GPhC has produced this new online guide explaining what patients and the public should expect when they visit a pharmacy. The guide summarises the standards that registered pharmacies and pharmacy professionals have to meet, and what these standards mean for people using pharmacies. It also explains that the GPhC inspects pharmacies to check if standards are being met and encourages people to visit the new pharmacy inspections publication site to find inspection reports. The online guide is available to download from the GPhC website.

Health and Care Professions Council

Protecting the public, promoting professionalism

HCPC has published its Fitness to practise annual report 2018-19. The report highlights key statistics and insights from fitness to practise data, including the 2,424 new concerns raised – a 5.3% increase compared to the previous year. The largest number of concerns (47%) were submitted by members of the public, followed by registrants’ employers (24%). The third largest group (18%) was registrants themselves. You can download the full report, including breakdowns by profession or go to the HCPC’s website for further details.

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Nursing and midwifery numbers continue to grow against backdrop of ageing register

The NMC has published its latest mid-year figures showing that there are 706,252 midwives, nurses and nursing associates on its register (mid December 2019).

Broken down by each professional role, the figures reveal the number of nurses on the register has grown by 6,669 (1.02%) while the number of midwives has grown by 339 (0.92%). At the end of September this year, there were 1,488 nursing associates registered to work in England – up from 489 in March, following the opening of the register in January 2019. For the same period, there has also been a significant increase in the number of professionals from outside the EU/EEA on the register rising from 73,308 to 77,373 – an increase of 4,065 (5.5%). While the overall number of people registered to work has continued to grow, the data does highlight the fall in the number of professionals coming from the EU/EEA, which declined a further 1,062 (-3.21%) from 33,035 to 31,973 between 1 April and 30 September.

The figures also confirm a distinct demographic trend – that the register is ageing. It now shows the number of people on the register approaching retirement age is growing quicker than the number of those under 30. From 1 April to 30 September, the number of those in the 61-65 age bracket grew by 2,220 (5.57%) compared to 1,659 (1.48%) in the 21-30 age group.

NMC launches its future midwifery standards

The NMC has launched its new Future Midwifery Standards, setting out what the next generation of midwives will know and learn. The standards set an evidence-based benchmark for the profession. You can find out more from the NMC’s website. 

Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland

Common registration examination for pharmacists

The Councils of the GPhC and the PSNI have agreed to introduce a common registration examination for pharmacists in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The decision follows a consultation earlier this year by the PSNI which proposed joining a common four-country registration assessment, based on the GPhC’s current approach with input from the PSNI. Having considered the outcome of the consultation, on the 26 November 2019 the PSNI’s Council agreed to proceed with its proposal and the GPhC’s Counicl also agreed to the proposal on 5 December 2019. The first sitting of the common registration assessment will take place in June 2021. You can find out  more in the joint statement published by the GPhC and the PSNI in early December.

Social Work England

What do social workers think about their role?

SWE is running a project in partnership with The Guardian aimed at finding out what social workers think about their role. This is the first in a series of SWE research projects aimed at developing a deeper understanding of social work by gathering data and intelligence. You can find out more from SWE’s website.