Is regulation a necessary evil?

It may appear to many practitioners that regulation is a necessary evil, which does very little for the profession or the individual practitioner. However, one should not lose sight of the importance of regulation, especially that associated with health and social care. I suspect many would agree, retrospectively, that tighter and more stringent regulation of financial services would have been welcomed in the mid–1990s to avoid such repercussions we currently face in the financial market. Yet, one often hears somewhat negative opinions when we talk of the Health Professions Council (HPC) and its role in the regulatory function of paramedics.

As a UK wide multi-professional regulator, currently regulating fifteen professions (including paramedics), the HPC prides itself on its ability to be independent and mutual in respect of professional autonomy. The primary role of the HPC is to set standards of education and training (SETS) for the various education programmes it validates. In addition, the HPC produce Standards of Proficiency for practitioners who successfully complete a recognized programme of study and thus enter onto the register. The HPC also carry out regulatory functions in protecting the public and those who may use the services of the regulated professions—this is conducted within a legislative framework.