Schedule 7 - The Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
11:30 am
Dr Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon, Liberal Democrat)
This is a large group of amendments and, as is often the way, the schedules dealing with membership and appointment attract controversy. That is evident from the number of amendments, which is unfortunate because there are larger issues at stake. It is interesting that a number of Government amendments are included in this group, and they will be welcomed by Committee members from all parties.
Amendment No. 255 raises the issue that was discussed on clause 23 stand part; the difficulty perceived by some, if not many, members of professions that are regulated by the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine, soon to be the Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals, that they are under-represented on the new council. It is important to understand what representation means. The Minister made it clear that he wanted, rightly, the new council to have representatives from the different councils who can describe the way in which they work and share best practice. The Minister may argue that the health care professions that are regulated by the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine are not so different that it would be impossible for issues that will be discussed at the new council to be adequately represented by a member of that council who happens to be a member of one of the 12, but not of the others. There is some logic in that and the way in which schedule 7 is drafted makes that easy.
The Minister may argue that apportioning members on a numeric basis opens a raft of separate issues—for example, that there are many more nurses than doctors, even in Oxfordshireand that we should have proportional representation. I am certainly not suggesting that, which should reassure hon. Members who have a vested interest in the status quo. Nevertheless, it is important to put the case for the amendment, if only to give the Government the opportunity to recognise that we are starting from the existing system of health care professional bodies and councils, rather than from where logic would have led us had we started from scratch.
It is remarkable that there will be a representative from the council that regulates chiropractors and a separate representative from the council that regulates osteopaths, which are important, but not necessarily more important than the 12 health care professions currently represented by the Council for Professions Supplementary to Medicine. Yet, there will only be one representative of the vast number and the wide range of professions currently regulated by the CPSM.