Additional file 1 of Engagement of health and social care employers in professional regulatory fitness to practise – missed regulatory and organisational opportunities?

Abstract

Background

Health and social care professional regulators are organisations that ensure their registrants have the correct qualifications and experience to practise in their profession. There are 13 statutory regulators in the United Kingdom (UK) and 29 voluntary accredited registers. Referrals of serious concerns about registrants’ Fitness to Practise (FtP) are investigated by regulators, and can lead to a public hearing. Employers may refer their employee to the regulator, and provide evidence about the concerns about their practice. Communication between the regulator and employer is central to ensure fitness to practise procedures are timely and effective, contributing to patient safety and to the improvement of health and social care professional and organisational practices.

Methods

In this mixed-methods research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants who held senior management roles in health and social care organisations in the UK and were responsible for communicating with professional regulators. Descriptive statistics were produced relating to participants’ roles and organisations, and qualitative data was analysed using Template Analysis methodology.