The PSA has published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2023/24.
Our report documents another challenging but productive year for the PSA. We recognise that these challenges are reflected more widely for both individuals and organisations working in health and social care.
Our annual report provides an opportunity to report on how we have carried out our statutory duties during 2023/24. This year we have continued our work to protect patients, service users and the public by improving the regulation and registration of health and social care professionals, including:
- Continuing to support regulatory reform – we drafted and consulted on two guidance documents designed to help reformed regulators implement their new powers
- Embedding our new approach to how we carry out performance reviews
- Expanding the Accredited Registers programme – we accredited four new registers during 2023/24
- Increasing our expectations of what regulators should be doing to promote and monitor equality, diversity and inclusion – we will be looking carefully at performance against this Standard in 2024/25
- Working with the regulators to see how they can reduce the backlogs in their fitness to practise cases
- Concluding the appeals of 24 final fitness to practise panel decisions – all but one of which were upheld or settled
- Collaborating with stakeholders to take forward the recommendations we set out on our 2022 report Safer care for all, including hosting joint events and our annual research conference.
Close to year-end we also published Making care safer for all - a manifesto for change 2024. It outlined our recommendations to the UK Government to help tackle some of the big challenges within health and social care.
Alan Clamp, the PSA’s Chief Executive said:
“This has been a productive year but not without its challenges. We were shocked and saddened by some of the events in healthcare during the year, including the Lucy Letby case and the publication of the report on the Infected Blood Inquiry. We believe that professional regulation can do more to tackle the challenges facing health and social care in the UK. We are looking forward to working with the new Government to offer our support and advice to address these in what is likely to be a very busy 2024/25.”
ENDS
Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk
Notes to the Editor
- The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care oversees 10 statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals in the UK.
- 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.
- We also set standards for organisations holding voluntary registers for health and social care occupations and accredit those that meet them.
- 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.
- 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.
- We published our manifesto Making care safer for all - a manifesto for change 2024 on 12 March 2024.
- Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.
- More information about our work and the approach we take is available at www.professionalstandards.org.uk