Professional regulators’ legal purposes include protecting the public and upholding a profession’s standards and public confidence in the profession. Globally, professional regulation is hugely under researched compared to patient safety and patient complaints. Most adverse events and complaints are managed by the professional’s employer. Anyone can raise a concern to a regulator, and most are from the public and employers. When a professional is reported to their regulator, it is investigated, often drawing on the employers’ investigations.

Regulatory fitness to practise (FtP) proceedings are known to be very challenging for professionals, even associated with suicide. Research tells us retelling a story multiple times and being cross examined on their evidence after harm (as in rape trial cases) can be distressing and re-traumatising.

Our project, funded by the NIHR, is a globally unique study of the role of the regulator in managing such witnesses in their FtP proceedings and the experiences of those whom they engage in this process. We used multiple methods including surveys, interviews, ethnography of hearings, documentary analysis of case material and determinations (decisions). Of necessity, it required advisory input throughout, and legal agreements to share sensitive case data from UK statuary regulators and has the on-going support from the Professional Standards Authority. These regulators are all involved in taking forward the findings, recommendations and learning resources of our study. 

The presentation will highlight a witnesses’ story, key findings and recommendations and the evaluation we are doing of the impact of this project. 

Meet the speaker:

Professor Louise Wallace (BA, PhD (Clin Psych), MBA, FBPsS has worked in patient care, patient safety, clinical governance as a clinical psychologist in hospitals, in management and as a Chief Executive of a general hospital. She was as a non-executive director on NHS boards for 20 years leading on patient voice, quality and safety.  She has undertaken more than 4 decades of research, including on risk management and adverse events analysis, and most recently leading the NIHR “Witness to Harm” project. From this projects’ outputs, she leads training workshops for more than 2000 people working for the meta regulator the Professional Standards Authority, and in the 13 UK statutory regulators including General Medical Council and Social Work England, and law firms such as Capstick LLP. She was Senior Scientific Adviser 2014 -2019 to NIHR’s HS&DR programme.  She many years’ professional regulatory experience and continues to be a part time lay panel member for fitness to practise (FtP) hearings /tribunals for health, social care, accounting and teacher regulators.

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