There could be interesting times ahead for students on paramedic courses as the Health Professions Council (HPC) launches a consultation on the most effective way of assuring student fitness to practice. Currently the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the General Social Care Council (GSCC) maintain voluntary registers of students studying on programmes that lead to registration with the respective registering bodies but the HPC does not have the power to register students. The Health and Social Care Bill 2011, currently before parliament, would change that position and allow the HPC to set up voluntary registers of students studying on programmes that lead to registration.
As students are in the process of developing the skills and knowledge needed to practice safely, their fitness for practice has to be measured differently to the registered professional. This is recognized by the HPC who state that student fitness to practice relates to students having the requisite health and character in order that they may practice safely and effectively once registered, and the ability to act appropriately with those they come into contact with while training (HPC, 2011). This appears to be a sensible and desirable position and, given that the NMC and GSCC already have voluntary registration for students, it would seem a logical pathway for the HPC and paramedic profession to follow. However, student registration does raise important questions and there is an opportunity for us to have our say on the matter at www.hpc-uk.org/aboutus/consultations/. This editorial picks up on just a couple of the considerations, cost and consistency, and I urge you to take a few minutes to look at what is being considered and to offer your opinion. This is important for our profession and the students who aspire to join our profession so we should have our voices heard.
There will undoubtedly be cost implications for student registrants and, as this would be a voluntary scheme, paramedic students may opt not to register because they cannot afford it. Many paramedic students are attending higher education courses and unlike most other NHS health professionals, they are not eligible for a student bursary (Department of Health, 2011), so though the cost may be small, it may still be unaffordable. If students did not register, who would be responsible for ensuring their fitness to practice? Education providers currently undertake this role through their fitness for practice procedures so it would seem likely that non-registered students would still need to be managed by the provider. The risk of this is that we end up with two systems to manage the same problem, which leads to a risk of inequity. In its consultation document, the HPC does ask whether there is evidence of inconsistency in the fitness to practice decisions of education providers but we need to consider that a new system of student registration may serve to add to rather than ameliorate any inconsistencies.
The HPC already validates all programmes that lead to registration so presumably it has reviewed the professional suitability procedures for each programme and deemed them to be appropriate. However, given the number and array of professional courses that lead to eligibility to apply for registration with the HPC it is likely that there are flaws in the system. Even if we accept this position, we still have one very important question that needs to be answered—can the HPC demonstrate that its own fitness to practice hearings are free from inconsistency across all professions? Perhaps the HPC would like to take an opportunity in a future edition of the JPP to address this issue.