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Mueller J.1,2, Woltman-Black J.3, Warren J.4
1Chair, Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand, 2Waipiata Consulting Ltd, Coromandel, New Zealand, 3Chief Executive, Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand, 4Professional Advisor, Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand, Welington, New Zealand
Background: He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
Physiotherapy regulation provides the public assurance that a physiotherapist is suitably qualified and competent to provide safe, competent care that meets appropriate regulatory standards. Regulatory mechanisms provide assurance to the public that the physiotherapist has met educational, ethical and practice standards relevant to their country's healthcare environment and needs and are fit to practice.
The concept of 'right-touch' regulation also has significant implications for physiotherapy regulators globally when considering safety. What is the minimal regulatory force that achieves the desired result of protecting the health and safety of the public? Should physiotherapy regulators shift the allocation of their resources to a greater focus on preventing breaches of standards through a risk-based lens and thus ensure improved safety of the public? Are our regulatory mechanisms sufficiently agile that they have the ability to respond to novel and emerging risks to patient safety?
Physiotherapy regulation provides the public assurance that a physiotherapist is suitably qualified and competent to provide safe, competent care that meets appropriate regulatory standards. Regulatory mechanisms provide assurance to the public that the physiotherapist has met educational, ethical and practice standards relevant to their country's healthcare environment and needs and are fit to practice.
The concept of 'right-touch' regulation also has significant implications for physiotherapy regulators globally when considering safety. What is the minimal regulatory force that achieves the desired result of protecting the health and safety of the public? Should physiotherapy regulators shift the allocation of their resources to a greater focus on preventing breaches of standards through a risk-based lens and thus ensure improved safety of the public? Are our regulatory mechanisms sufficiently agile that they have the ability to respond to novel and emerging risks to patient safety?
Purpose: In Aotearoa New Zealand, physiotherapy is a regulated profession governed by the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act (2003). The purpose of the Act is to “protect the health & safety of the public by providing for mechanisms to ensure that health practitioners are competent and fit to practisetheir professions (s 3(1))”. As a Physiotherapy Board, we have a number of functions we must do by law that are all designed to ensure public safety.
Methods: The Boards mechanisms to ensure public safety include maintaining the publically available register; describing physiotherapy scopes of practice; setting standards of clinical, ethical competence and cultural conduct; receiving and investigating complaints; recognising, setting and accrediting ongoing competence programmes; and accrediting and monitoring courses (and institutions) of higher education.
Results: What does this look like in practice? This presentation will discuss the critical regulatory elements that are in place to ensure the safety of the public receiving physiotherapy services in Aotearoa New Zealand, and compare them to Australia, our trans-Tasman neighbour. The implications of the safety mechanisms and processes that we use as regulators of registered physiotherapists will also be discussed, with a focus on the least amount of regulatory intervention required to ensure public safety. Finally, the balance of investment in prevention through a risk-based lens versus a reactive approach is considered.
Conclusion(s): The fundamental purpose of regulation is not about protecting a profession, rather about protecting the public providing clear and transparent mechanisms that ensure public safety. Any deviations by practitioners from these standards of competence and conduct need to be managed with an appropriate amount of regulatory force not too much, not too little.
Implications: Regulation of a profession is a critical component within a healthcare system that ensures patient safety. Care must be taken, however, that appropriate and relevant standards of competence and conduct are in place that are applicable to that healthcare jurisdiction and, where necessary, that the appropriate amount of regulatory force is applied to achieve the desired outcome of patient safety.
Funding acknowledgements: Not applicable
Topic: Professional issues
Ethics approval: Not applicable
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
