Using accepted outcomes in fitness to practise: guidance for regulators

This guidance is to support regulators in implementing and using new powers which will allow them to use accepted outcomes in fitness to practise.  

This guidance currently applies to the accepted outcomes process set out in the Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates Order (AAPA Order). 

This Order is expected to act as the template for reform across the healthcare professional regulators. It does not apply to any regulator until and unless their powers are reformed to bring them into line with those set out in the AAPA Order. 

The Government is currently in the process of reforming the legislation for nine out of the healthcare professional regulators we oversee, giving them a range of new powers and allowing them to operate in a very different way. This will include changes to how regulators handle fitness to practise concerns (the process by which concerns about healthcare professionals are dealt with) allowing them to resolve cases without using a Panel Hearing through a new process called Accepted Outcomes.   

This guidance is intended for healthcare professional regulators to use when developing their own accepted outcomes guidance and processes. For most regulators, this will only be applicable once their legislation has been updated in line with the government’s programme of regulatory reform.  

This guidance is not mandatory, and regulators can take a different approach to drafting their guidance on accepted outcomes. However, we will have regard to our guidance when we assess how regulators are using their new powers under our review of their performance. There is further information in the guidance about how we will use this guidance in relation to our performance review.