Does regulation distract professionals?
Print version
Research conducted by Dr Gerry McGivern, Dr Michael Fischer and Professor Ewan Ferlie from the Department of Management and Dr Mark Exworthy from Royal Holloway, University of London, has found that current systems of regulation may distract healthcare professionals & organisations from providing safe and effective patient care. Their research raises questions about the future regulation of psychotherapists and counsellors by the Health Professions Council.
Their report ‘Statutory Regulation and the Future of Professional Practice in Psychotherapy and Counselling: Evidence from the field’ is based on a research project funded by the General Medical Council and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Public Services Programme. The study compared the visible and invisible performance effects of transparency in the regulation of two professional groups discussed in the 2007 White Paper ‘Trust, Assurance and Safety: The Regulation of Health Professionals’: medicine - a well established and statutorily-regulated profession, and psychotherapy and counselling - developing professions with no statutory regulation.
The researchers conducted 50 formal interviews and 22 scoping interviews with regulators and other officials, representatives of professional bodies, patient representatives, doctors (GPs and psychiatrists), psychotherapists and counsellors. They also observed Health Professionals Council (HPC) Professional Liaison Group (PLG) meetings for psychotherapists and counsellors, as well as for psychologists. In addition they observed four professional conferences on the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy. Finally they conducted a stakeholder workshop where they presented their provisional findings to a group including those involved in regulating psychotherapy and counselling at the national level, and practising psychotherapists and counsellors, to validate the results.
The report was submitted this week to the Health Professionals Council (HPC) Consultation on the Regulation of Psychotherapy and Counselling.
Read the story on the College news pages.
Their report ‘Statutory Regulation and the Future of Professional Practice in Psychotherapy and Counselling: Evidence from the field’ is based on a research project funded by the General Medical Council and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Public Services Programme. The study compared the visible and invisible performance effects of transparency in the regulation of two professional groups discussed in the 2007 White Paper ‘Trust, Assurance and Safety: The Regulation of Health Professionals’: medicine - a well established and statutorily-regulated profession, and psychotherapy and counselling - developing professions with no statutory regulation.
The researchers conducted 50 formal interviews and 22 scoping interviews with regulators and other officials, representatives of professional bodies, patient representatives, doctors (GPs and psychiatrists), psychotherapists and counsellors. They also observed Health Professionals Council (HPC) Professional Liaison Group (PLG) meetings for psychotherapists and counsellors, as well as for psychologists. In addition they observed four professional conferences on the regulation of counselling and psychotherapy. Finally they conducted a stakeholder workshop where they presented their provisional findings to a group including those involved in regulating psychotherapy and counselling at the national level, and practising psychotherapists and counsellors, to validate the results.
The report was submitted this week to the Health Professionals Council (HPC) Consultation on the Regulation of Psychotherapy and Counselling.
Read the story on the College news pages.
Read the report
Statutory Regulation and the Future of Professional Practice in Psychotherapy & Counselling: Evidence from the field is available to download below.
Attached files
