Excerpts from the HPC doc. I include it here because I am surprised by the rather grand way it states its right to intervene in other people's practise in the name of public safety without saying what that means nor why they (the HPC) are less of a threat than any one else. There are many questions begged by this document which I hope to gradually unpack.
Introduction
We are seeking the views of stakeholders on the potential statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors.
About us:
We are the Health Professions Council (HPC). We are a regulator and our job is to protect the health and wellbeing of people who use the services of the health professionals registered with us. To protect the public, we set standards that health professionals must meet. Our standards cover health professionals’ education and training, behaviour, professional skills, and their health. We publish a Register of health professionals who meet our standards.
Health professionals on our Register are called ‘registrants’. If registrants do not meet our standards, we can take action against them which may include removing them from the Register so that they can no longer practise.
About statutory regulation
• Statutory regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors
In February 2007, the government published a White Paper on the future of regulation, ‘Trust, Assurance and Safety – The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century’.
The White Paper said: ‘The government is planning to introduce statutory regulation
for…psychotherapists and counsellors…’ (page 81) ‘…psychotherapists and counsellors will be regulated by the Health Professions Council, following that Council’s rigorous process of assessing their regulatory needs and ensuring that its system is capable of accommodating them. This will be the first priority for future regulation.’ (page 85)
Subject to the necessary legislative approval, the White Paper indicated that psychotherapists and counsellors would be regulated by the HPC in the future.
We are therefore undertaking this project in anticipation of that legislative approval. [emphasis added] However, please note that the outcome will be subject to any final decisions made by the UK and Scottish Parliaments.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
HPC call for ideas for regulating psychotherapy and counselling
If you go into the web-link in this blog's title, you will download a document about the proceedings to include counselling and psychotherapy in the HPC register.
I suppose it is because the HPC is already set up on the basis of a legal statute that they must proceed as if it is ipso facto a good idea to regulate this practice. The questions are already set up on the contentious assumption that the HPC is the right way to register professionals. The call for ideas, then, is a highly particular call, and precludes the possibility that anyone should have a different idea. This is extremely worrying, especially given the field of work that is in question here.
Summary of questions
The following is a summary of the questions we have asked in this document:
1. What are your views about how the Register should be structured for
psychotherapists and counsellors?
2. Which titles should be protected and why?
3. What criteria might be used in considering which voluntary registers should transfer and which should not?
4. We invite voluntary membership organisations to provide us with details about:
o The number of members and the extent to which this number is likely to overlap with membership of other organisations.
o Information about arrangements for determining entry to membership.
o Information about arrangements for considering complaints about members.
5. How long should the grandparenting period be open for and why?
6. Are there are any other matters which the group should consider in recommending appropriate grandparenting arrangements?
7. We would welcome any information about:
o The number and names of existing qualifications leading to the practice of psychotherapy and counselling.
o Types of qualifications including the academic level or academic awards of those qualifications.
o The structure of qualifications including theoretical content and practical experience.
o Quality assurance of qualifications including existing internal and external quality assurance mechanisms.
8. What issues should the PLG consider in determining the threshold level of qualification for entry to the Register?
9. What existing standards or other work should the PLG take into account in putting together draft standards of proficiency?
10. Do you have any further comments?
http://www.hpc-uk.org/assets/documents/1000234Fcouncil_20080703_enclosure08.pdf
I suppose it is because the HPC is already set up on the basis of a legal statute that they must proceed as if it is ipso facto a good idea to regulate this practice. The questions are already set up on the contentious assumption that the HPC is the right way to register professionals. The call for ideas, then, is a highly particular call, and precludes the possibility that anyone should have a different idea. This is extremely worrying, especially given the field of work that is in question here.
Summary of questions
The following is a summary of the questions we have asked in this document:
1. What are your views about how the Register should be structured for
psychotherapists and counsellors?
2. Which titles should be protected and why?
3. What criteria might be used in considering which voluntary registers should transfer and which should not?
4. We invite voluntary membership organisations to provide us with details about:
o The number of members and the extent to which this number is likely to overlap with membership of other organisations.
o Information about arrangements for determining entry to membership.
o Information about arrangements for considering complaints about members.
5. How long should the grandparenting period be open for and why?
6. Are there are any other matters which the group should consider in recommending appropriate grandparenting arrangements?
7. We would welcome any information about:
o The number and names of existing qualifications leading to the practice of psychotherapy and counselling.
o Types of qualifications including the academic level or academic awards of those qualifications.
o The structure of qualifications including theoretical content and practical experience.
o Quality assurance of qualifications including existing internal and external quality assurance mechanisms.
8. What issues should the PLG consider in determining the threshold level of qualification for entry to the Register?
9. What existing standards or other work should the PLG take into account in putting together draft standards of proficiency?
10. Do you have any further comments?
http://www.hpc-uk.org/assets/documents/1000234Fcouncil_20080703_enclosure08.pdf
Monday, 14 July 2008
HPC & Psychology
The Health Professions Council was set up by the Health Professionals Order passed by the Privy Council in 2001. The Privy Council is a Government operational arm which is separate from the judicial system, and operates through the Lord Chancellor and the courts. Traditionally it is reckoned to be an unusual way of using power, and is reserved for extreme emergencies such as would happen in war. Tony Blair's Government, however, made frequent use of it. The object or aim of HPO2001 is to 'safeguard health and wellbeing' by State registration and regulation of a whole range of people who practise a very wide variety of professions. A secondary function of this legislation, tho not named in the documentation, is to give government approval to those who sign up in the form of legally protected titles. The psychologists have wanted this status since the early 1980's, for example. It allows them to protect their practise from any competition.
Earlier this year (2008), there was a 'consultation' about section 60 of the Health Act 1999 which sets out to enrol psychologists into the HPC. Section 60 is contained in the Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) No 2 Order 2008, and is tabled for consideration in the 08-09 session where it is expected to be passed in the Commons Select Committee on Health. The BPS (British Psychological Society) comment on this can be consulted on their web site (under ‘statutory legislation’, ‘latest updates’, ‘20 March 2008, 29 April and 22 May’.
The consultation took the form of a very biased questionnaire. It was biased in that it took for granted that everyone shares the government's opinion that 'professionals' must be regulated through the State machinery. The rhetoric that pretends to underpin this idea is that professionals are ipso facto a menace to the public. It is not uncommon for someone to start talking about Harold Shipman at this point as if this highly unusual man is somehow representative of professionals who are not registered by the State. This, of course, is nonsense.
The philosophy behind the HPO 2001 shares much with the work of Ian Kennedy, an academic lawyer. He chaired the commission of enquiry into the Bristol Royal Infirmary and is well known for his sustained attack against the medical profession published in his book (1981) The Unmasking of Medicine.
Earlier this year (2008), there was a 'consultation' about section 60 of the Health Act 1999 which sets out to enrol psychologists into the HPC. Section 60 is contained in the Health Care and Associated Professions (Miscellaneous Amendments) No 2 Order 2008, and is tabled for consideration in the 08-09 session where it is expected to be passed in the Commons Select Committee on Health. The BPS (British Psychological Society) comment on this can be consulted on their web site (under ‘statutory legislation’, ‘latest updates’, ‘20 March 2008, 29 April and 22 May’.
The consultation took the form of a very biased questionnaire. It was biased in that it took for granted that everyone shares the government's opinion that 'professionals' must be regulated through the State machinery. The rhetoric that pretends to underpin this idea is that professionals are ipso facto a menace to the public. It is not uncommon for someone to start talking about Harold Shipman at this point as if this highly unusual man is somehow representative of professionals who are not registered by the State. This, of course, is nonsense.
The philosophy behind the HPO 2001 shares much with the work of Ian Kennedy, an academic lawyer. He chaired the commission of enquiry into the Bristol Royal Infirmary and is well known for his sustained attack against the medical profession published in his book (1981) The Unmasking of Medicine.
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