Statutory Regulation Of Clinical Physiologists

EDM number 1352 in 2010-12, proposed by Yvonne Fovargue on 26/01/2011.
Categorised under the topic of Health services.

That this House welcomes the valuable contribution that clinical physiologists make to patient care in the NHS;notes their importance in developing and delivering a wide range of sensitive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures directly to patients in the disciplines of audiology, cardiology, gastro intestinal physiology, neurophysiology and respiratory physiology; further notes with concern that despite the Health Professions Council's recommendation in 2004 that clinical physiologists should be statutorily regulated and this advice being accepted by the Department of Health in 2005, statutory regulation has not yet been put in place; recognises the value of the current voluntary register which has been compiled and administered by the Registration Council for Clinical Physiologists; understands the Government's direction of travel that voluntary regulation is the preferred way forward for most new healthcare professions, but believes that because of the potentially highly invasive nature of clinical physiologists' activities, voluntary registration does not provide patients with enough protection against those who are unfit to practice; regrets that some of the delay appears to have been caused by the Department's otherwise worthwhile plans to better integrate the wider healthcare science workforce through Modernising Scientific Careers; and calls on the Government to publish a clear timetable for a draft section 60 Order which will take forward statutory regulation as soon as possible to minimise the ongoing risks to patient safety.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs.