Information about changes to Practitioner Performance Advice regarding Covid-19
We recognise that the challenges being faced by our valued healthcare workforce are unprecedented, with practitioners being deployed into different roles and others rejoining the NHS as part of the response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Our Practitioner Performance Advice service continues to be available to provide expertise to support healthcare organisations to effectively manage and resolve any issues they encounter about the performance of individual doctors, dentists and pharmacists, so that clinicians who are on the frontline are able to continue to offer a safe and valued service.
We are committed to ensuring that our services align with the recent letter from Professor Stephen Powis (National Medical Director, NHS England and NHS Improvement) to Responsible Officers and Medical Directors in England about professional standards activities, in which he made clear that oversight of concerns must continue at this time, with priority given to those considered to be high risk. Our approach on individual cases will continue to be informed by the circumstances in which healthcare professionals are being required to deliver services and we endorse the position set out in the joint letter from the Chief Medical Officers, NHS England and NHS Improvement, General Medical Council and the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.
We can also continue to help employers to formulate and implement timely professional support and remediation action plans to support individual practitioners’ effective return to clinical practice. We will also continue to administer the Healthcare Practitioner Alert Notices (HPANs) system as normal.
In consultation with NHS Employers we have produced some general interim guidance to NHS organisations regarding the management of concerns in accordance with Maintaining High Professional Standards in the NHS (MHPS) during the Covid-19 outbreak. This guidance can be found on our website and also downloaded. We have also put together some reflections on the provision of our service during Covid-19 which can be found here.
We are very aware that practitioners may be in need of additional support during this time. There are a number of national organisations that practitioners can access for support, some of which are listed on this page or on this information sheet which can be downloaded.
We are contactable via telephone on our advice line (0207 811 2600) from 09:00-17:00 and by email (advice@resolution.nhs.uk).
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