Consultations

The HRA have launched a consultation on Research Transparency and how this can be improved. This consultation is open between 17 June and 6 September 2019.

Background

The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee published a report in October 2018 on clinical trials transparency as part of an enquiry into research integrity. You can view the report here.

The concerns which were raised include:

• sponsors failing to register clinical trials
• sponsors failing to update trials registers when studies are finished
• failure to present research results which are accessible to the public
• the erosion of public trust in medicine from failures in clinical trials transparency

The Committee recommended that the HRA should make changes so that it can improve research transparency in the UK.

Response

In response, the HRA formed The Research Transparency Strategy Group.

The Research Transparency Strategy Group have produced a set of plans and proposals which are described here.

These proposals include changes to the process of obtaining Research Ethics Committee approval. As such, it is essential that all stakeholders in health and social care research contribute to the consultation.

Consultation

The proposals are open for consultation and the HRA requests input from the health and social care research community and members of the public. Read more here.

You can also follow or contribute to discussions on Twitter under the hashtag #MakeItPublic

The consultation opened on 17 June and closed on 6 September 2019.

Health Education England (HEE) is consulting on different standards for the establishment of its new academy for advancing practice.

The academy, which is being set up to standardise routes into advanced clinical practice (ACP), will recognise registered health and care practitioners who demonstrate the capabilities set out in the ACP or consultant practitioner framework. It will also take on responsibility for accrediting ACP education programmes.

HEE is consulting on the three documents below, and you can respond to each survey on the HEE website, by using the links.

• The operating framework – this document sets out the operating model, it explains the purpose, role and functions of the academy.
• The standards for education and training – this document sets out the requirements for a programme to be accredited by the academy.
• The standard for the equivalence route – this document sets out how an individual practitioner is expected to engage in, demonstrate and evidence their learning and development to the academy.

NHS Improvement are developing proposals for a new national patient safety strategy to support the NHS to be the safest healthcare system in the world.

The strategy is being developed alongside the NHS Long Term Plan and will be relevant to all parts of the NHS, be that physical or mental health care, in or out of hospital and primary care.

Why They Are Consulting

To make sure the strategy works for patients, NHS staff and providers, NHSI are consulting on their proposals. Your opinions will help shape and refine the final version of their national patient safety strategy, which will be published in Spring 2019.

To be able to answer the consultation questions you will first need to download and read Developing a patient safety strategy for the NHS consultation document. You can choose to answer all the questions or only the ones that interest you, but please do read all sections of this document first.

An easy read version of the consultation document and questions will be available on https://engage.improvement.nhs.uk/policy-strategy-and-delivery-management/patient-safety-strategy/ soon.

If you would like your comments to form part of the Academy’s One Voice response, please submit your comments to  no later than 1^st February, 2019.

Consultation closes 15^th February, 2019.

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is seeking views on proposed changes to the Standards for prescribing.

The Standards for prescribers have two purposes and so are set out in two parts.

• The standards for education providers set out the processes and procedures that an education provider delivering training in prescribing must have in place in order to deliver the training safely and effectively.
• The standards for all prescribers set out the knowledge, understanding and skills that a registrant must have when they complete their prescribing training and which they must continue to meet once in practice.

These standards, therefore, set out safe and effective prescribing practice. They are the threshold standards we consider necessary to protect members of the public. They are also the standards we use to assess and approve education and training programmes in prescribing.

The HCPC’s current Standards for prescribing were published in August 2013. Since this time, we have seen a number of important changes in non-medical prescribing practice and regulation.

Click here to Download the consultation document, which sets out the background to the review and our consultation questions.

The closing date for responses is Friday 4 January 2019.

 

The Academy for Healthcare Science submitted the following response:

“AHCS Council & Board have reviewed this consultation and have no major comments to feedback from healthcare scientists. 

We are supportive of the NHSE Medication Management project to allow administration of medicines by Clinical Scientists and Biomedical Scientists in extended roles.  Prescribing will be a much later phase of this programme (if it happens at all) so we would suggest that the document refers to “prescribing and administration of medicines” rather than just prescribing.”

HCPC are consulting on proposals to increase registration fees. If adopted, the changes would be effective from 1 October 2019 and existing registrants would pay the new renewal fee when their profession next renews its registration.

The increases are needed to support HCPC’s new strategic focus of promoting professionalism and preventing fitness to practise issues from arising.  HCPC also need to continue to invest in the services offered to registrants. The consultation takes place in the context of keeping pace with the cost of inflation and the impact on their operations and income when social workers in England transfer to Social Work England in 2019.

Click here to read more.

Click here to read the joint Open Letter.

The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is seeking views on proposed changes to the Standards for prescribing.

The Standards for prescribers have two purposes and so are set out in two parts.

• The standards for education providers set out the processes and procedures that an education provider delivering training in prescribing must have in place in order to deliver the training safely and effectively.
• The standards for all prescribers set out the knowledge, understanding and skills that a registrant must have when they complete their prescribing training and which they must continue to meet once in practice.

These standards, therefore, set out safe and effective prescribing practice. They are the threshold standards we consider necessary to protect members of the public. They are also the standards we use to assess and approve education and training programmes in prescribing.

The HCPC’s current Standards for prescribing were published in August 2013. Since this time, we have seen a number of important changes in non-medical prescribing practice and regulation.

The consultation is now open. Download the consultation document, which sets out the background to the review and our consultation questions.

If you would like your comments to be included in the Academy for Healthcare’s One Voice response, please submit your comments to  no later than Friday 7^th December, 2018.

The closing date for responses is Friday 4 January 2019.