Archive for the 'Speeches' Category

OHPA has published three papers drafted by our Policy Director, Wendy Harris, that set out what was OHPA’s initial thinking on Fitness to Practise (FtP) adjudications and the research on which it was based. The papers have been prepared by Mrs Harris while seconded by OHPA to the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE), and are intended to assist those regulators and others who are thinking about the future shape of FtP in light of the Government’s decision not to proceed with the OHPA programme.

The papers consider the style and format of adjudication, the impact of possible changes to adjudication on initial FtP processes, and the views canvassed on these matters from those working across health professional regulation. They can be accessed here, here, and here.

Please let us know (at info@ohpa.org.uk) if you have found these papers helpful or have ideas about other material we could make available.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Department of Health (Anne Milton) announced in a written statement: The Government has 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 is 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.

Reacting to the Government statement, Walter Merricks, Chair of OHPA said:

“The establishment of OHPA aimed to enhance public confidence by creating independent adjudication of health professionals. We have also identified changes that could reduce the cost and delay in fitness to practise hearings not only in relation to doctors, but also other health professionals. While we are disappointed at the Government’s provisional view, we intend to play a full part to support the proposed consultation on improving health professional adjudication.”