CLINICAL PHYSIOLOGISTS

Early day motion 1065, tabled 10 March 2010 by Charlotte Atkins (Labour). Signed by 43 members.

That this House welcomes the valuable contribution that clinical physiologists make to patient care in the NHS; notes the importance of clinical physiologists in developing and delivering a wide range of sensitive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures directly to patients in the disciplines of audiology, cardiology, gastrointestinal physiology, neurophysiology and respiratory physiology; acknowledges the significant impact these procedures can have on patient safety if delivered by those unfit to practise; notes with concern that despite the Health Professions Council's recommendation in 2004 that clinical physiologists should be statutorily regulated, statutory regulation is still not in place; recognises the value of the current voluntary register which has been compiled and administered by the Registration Council for Clinical Physiologists, but believes that voluntary registration does not provide patients with enough protection against a small minority who are unfit to practise; welcomes the commitment by the Department of Health to have statutory regulation in place by 2011; and calls on the Department of Health, as well as its counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure that there are no unnecessary delays in the process towards statutory regulation, particularly in the context of Modernising Scientific Careers and the ongoing revision of career and educational pathways for the wider healthcare science workforce which clinical physiologists are part of and in the context of protecting patient safety.

Signatures by party: Labour 26, Liberal Democrat 10, Conservative 3, DUP 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2.