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Health Practice Associates Council meets Accredited Registers ‘public interest test’

11 Jan 2023

Today, we have published our report on the Health Practice Associates Council’s (HPAC) application for an assessment against Standard One of our Standards for Accredited Registers. Also known as ‘the public interest test’, we assess whether the benefits of activities of the roles registered by the HPAC are likely to outweigh the risks. 

We offer an initial assessment against Standard One to check whether a Register falls within the scope of the Accredited Registers programme, ahead of submitting a full application. With regards to HPAC, we found that, overall, the public interest test is provisionally met although we recommended some areas to consider before a full application for accreditation.

HPAC is a UK-wide organisation that registers people working in the pre-hospital health care sector, such as ambulance staff, who are not required by law to be registered with a statutory regulator.  Registrants can provide life-saving treatment in serious cases and help to minimise the need for further medical intervention in others.

National bodies including the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have supported HPAC’s application for accreditation. The CQC commented in 2022: ‘We have previously highlighted concerns about unsafe recruitment in the ambulance sector. We therefore support HPAC in applying to the Professional Standards Authority to support the safe recruitment of non-paramedic ambulance clinicians.’

 Alan Clamp, Chief Executive of the Professional Standards Authority, said: ‘We are pleased that the HPAC applied for assessment under Standard One and have provisionally met the Standard. The ‘public interest test’ supports informed patient choice and reduces the risk that a register is accredited if it is unable to evidence how its registrants support health and wellbeing.’

ENDS

Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Email: media@professionalstandards.org.uk

Notes to the Editor

  1. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care oversees 10 statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals in the UK.
  2. We assess their performance and report to Parliament. We also conduct audits and investigations and can appeal fitness to practise cases to the courts if we consider that sanctions are insufficient to protect the public and it is in the public interest.
  3. We also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for health and social care occupations and accredit those that meet them.
  4. We share good practice and knowledge, conduct research and introduce new ideas to our sector. We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally and provide advice on issues relating to professional standards in health and social care.
  5. We do this to promote the health, safety and wellbeing of users of health and social care services and the public. We are an independent body, accountable to the UK Parliament.
  6. Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.
  7. More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk
  8. The HPAC registers a variety of roles which are: first aiders, first responders, ambulance care assistants, police medical responders, fire medical responders, emergency care assistants, ambulance technicians, associate ambulance practitioners and sub-registration for student paramedics.