Paramedics

1 Sta nda rds of profi ciencyParamedicsFore wo rd 1In tro duc tion 3 Stan da rd s of pr ofici en cy 7Co nt entsWe are ple ased to present the Healt h an d Care Prof es sionsCo unc il s st an da rds of pr ofi ci ency for par am ed ics .We firs t pub lishe d standardsof pro fi cien cy for par am edi cs inJuly 20 03. We publi shed revi sed stan da rd s in Nov emb er 200 rev iew th e st andardsreg ularl y to look at how they arewo rk ing and to checkwheth er they con ti nue to re fl ect cu rre ntprac ti ce in th e pro fessio ns we reg ulat e new re vi sed standardsare a resu lt of our mos t re centre vie w of th e st andardsof profi ciency . As a re sult of the fir stst ag e of the rev ie w, and the resultsof a pu bl ic con sult ati on , weha ve re vi sed ou r genericstandardswh ic h app ly to al l th epro fess ions we reg ul ate.

2 The revi sed st an da rds are now ba se dar ou nd 15 ge ne ric s new str uctu re mea ns thatwe can ret ai n th e standards which are sh are d acros s all th epro fess ions we reg ul ate, whil st al lowin g us mo re fle xib ili ty indesc rib ing th e detai led standardswhic h are spe ci fi c toin di vid ua l pr ofessi pro fes sion-specific standardsfor par am edi cs in clu de d inthis docum en t were devel oped thro ugh th e inp ut of there lev ant pr ofe ssion al bo di es and the view s of all st akeh ol dersdurin g a furt he r publi c con sultation. Th e revi ew proc ess andco ns ult at ion prod uced val uable feedb ack and we are gra te fu lto all tho se who gave their tim e to he lp us in sha pin g th e ne wst and ar hav e mad e a sm al l num ber of cha nges to th e stan da rdsove ral l, ma in ly to reflectdevel opmentsin ed uc ati on andprac ti ce, to cla rify our intentions and to cor rec t any er rors oromissi ons.

3 We have also made so me mi nor cha nge s to th ein tro duct ion , in particular to explai n the la ng ua ge we use in th est and ar nd ards of pro ficie ncy Pa ra me di cs1 ForewordWe are con fide nt that the standards are fi t for pu rpos e andrefl ec t sa fe and effectivepro fessio nal practice for par am ed ics .The se st andardsare eff ecti ve from Monday1 Sep temb er 20 nda rds of profic ien cy Para me dics2 Thi s doc ume nt sets ou t th e stan da rds of pro fic ienc y. The sest an da rd s set out safe and eff ecti ve prac ti ce in the pro fessi ons were gula te. They are th e th res hold st an dard s we consi de r ne cessa ryto prot ec t me mbe rs of th e pu bli c. The y se t out wha t a st ude ntmust know, un de rs ta nd and be able to do by the time the y hav ecomp leted thei r tra ini ng, so th at the y are ab le to app ly to re gi ste rwith us.

4 Once on our Regis te r you must me et those stand ard s ofprofic ienc y whic h re late to th e are as in which you also expec t you to ke ep to our st andards of conduct ,per form ance and eth ics and st an dard s fo r co nti nui ngprofes siona l dev elop me nt . We pub lis h the se in se pa rat edocu me nts, whic h you ca n find on our web si st an da rds of profi cien cy in th is doc ume nt inc lud e bot hge ne ric el em en ts , wh ich ap ply to all our re gi strant s, andprofes sion- speci fi c elements wh ich are re lev ant to reg istra nt sbel ongin g to one of th e prof es sion s we curre nt ly re gen er ic sta ndardsare writ ten inbold, and theprofes sion- speci fi c st an dard s are wri tte n in pl ai n text .We hav e numbe red th e stan dard s so that you ca n re fe r to themmore eas ily.

5 The st an dard s are not hie ra rc hi cal and are all equa llyimport an t for pr ac tice .A note aboutour exp ectati ons of youYou mus t mee t all the sta nd ards of profi cie ncy to reg iste r with usand meet the sta nd ards rele van t to your sc op e of pra cti ce to sta yre gist ere d with is important tha t you re ad an d underst and thi s doc ume nt. Ifyour pra cti ce is ca lled into qu es tion we will co nsi der thesest an da rd s (a nd our sta nd ards of cond uc t, perfo rma nc e andeth ics) in deci ding wh at action , if an y, we ne ed to ta st and ar ds se t ou t in th is document comp leme nt informationan d guid anc e issued by ot her organ isat ions, suc h as yo urpr ofe ssio na l bo dy or your employer. We re co gnise the va luab le rol epl ay ed by pro fes siona l bodiesin provid ing gui da nce and adv iceab out good pra cti ce wh ich can help you to me et the sta nd ard s inth is doc ument.

6 Sta nd ards of pro ficie ncy Pa ra me di cs3 Intro ducti onYo ur scop e of practi ceYour sc op e of pract ice is the area or area s of yo ur pro fessi on inwh ich you hav e the knowl edge, skill s and expe rie nce to pra ct iselawfu lly, sa fel y an d effe ct ively, in a way tha t mee ts our st and ard san d does not pos e an y dan ger to the pub lic or to yo urse re cogn ise th at a regis tr an t s sc ope of pra ctice will chang eove r time and th at th e pr act ice of ex peri ence d re gi st rant s oftenbe com es more foc us ed and sp ecial ise d tha n that of new lyregi ste re d col leagu es . Thi s migh t be be cause of sp ec ial isa tion in ace rt ai n area or with a par ti cul ar clien t gro up , or a mov eme nt intorole s in ma nage men t, edu cati on or rese arch.

7 Eve ry ti me youren ew your regis trat ion , you will be aske d to sig n a dec lara ti onth at you continu e to meet the st and ards of pro fi ciency tha t appl yto your sc ope of pr act r par ticularsco pe of practicemay mea n that you areunableto continueto dem ons tr ate that you me et all ofthe standardsthat apply for the wholeof your pr lon g as you ma ke sur e that you ar e practi sing safel y andeff ect ively within your give n sc ope of practic e and do not prac tise inth e area s where you are no t pro fi ci ent to do so, this will not be apr ob lem. If you wa nt to move outsi de of your scope of pra ctice,you shou ld be certa in tha t you are capableof wor kin g lawfu lly,sa fe ly an d effecti vel y. Thi s mea ns that you ne ed to ex er cis epe rso na l judgementby unde rtak ing any ne cess ary tr ain ing orgain ing experience, be fore mo vi ng into a new ar ea of pra eti ng th e sta nd ard sIt is impor ta nt that you meet our stan dard s and are able topr ac ti se law ful ly, saf ely an d effec tive ly.

8 How ev er, we do not dict at ehow you sh ould me et ou r sta nd ards . The re is normal ly more thanone way in whi ch each st an dard can be me t and the wa y in whi chyou meet our sta ndard s mi ght cha nge ov er ti me bec ause ofimprov eme nts in tec hn ology or ch ange s in yo ur pra ct nda rds of profic ien cy Para me dics4We oft en re cei ve questionsfrom reg istr an ts wh o are concernedthatsome thi ng th ey have been ask ed to do , a policy , or th e way in whichthe y wor k mig ht mean th ey can not meet our areoft en worr ied tha t th is might have an ef fec t on their registr an auto nomou s pro fessio nal, yo u ne ed to make informed,re asone d dec isi ons abo ut yo ur practiceto ensur e th at you meet thest and ard s tha t ap pl y to yo u.

9 This include s seekin g advice andsu ppor t from edu catio n pr oviders,empl oyers, colleagues,profe ss ion al bod ies, unio ns an d oth er s to en sure that the wellbeingof serv ice us er s is safeguarded at all times . So long as you do th isand can just ify yo ur decis ions if as ked to, it is very unlikelythat youwill not mee t our standards .La ng ua geWe re cognis e that ou r regi st ran ts work in a ra ng e of differe ntse tt ings, whi ch inclu de direct pr act ice, ma nag eme nt, educa tion,re sea rc h and rol es in indu st ry. We als o rec og ni se tha t the use ofter mi nol ogy ca n be an emot ive regis tr an ts wor k with ve ry diffe rent peopleand use dif ferent termsto descr ibe th e gr oups tha t use , or are af fected by, their se e of our regi st rants wo rk with patients, othe rs with clients andot hers wi th serv ice use rs.

10 The ter ms th at you use will dependon howand where you work . We ha ve used te rms in these standards whichwe bel iev e bes t ref lect th e grou ps that you work the sta nda rds of pro fi ci enc y, we use phras es su ch as u nde rst and , know , and be abl e to . This is so the sta ndardsremain applicable to curre nt re gistra nts in main taini ng their fitnes sto pract ise, as well as pro spec tiv e re gistra nts wh o have not yetstart ed pra ctising and are appl yi ng fo r registr ation for th e firs t nd ards of pro ficie ncy Pa ra me di cs5 The se sta nda rds may chan ge in the futureWe ha ve producedth ese st and ards after sp ea king to oursta ke hold ers an d hold ing a for mal publ ic co ns ul ta will conti nue to lis te n to our st akeh olde rs and will ke ep oursta nd ards under con tin ual revi ew.