UKPHR publishes its guidance on revalidation

UKPHR’s Board approved a scheme for revalidation in February, the scheme was published in March and now UKPHR is also publishing guidance about its revalidation scheme. The guidance is intended to help all key audiences understand UKPHR’s revalidation requirements, including registrants, public health employers and the public. To read both the policy and guidance, click here.

Registrants’ competence is assured on first registration by UKPHR. Revalidation is the process by which registrants are subsequently required to demonstrate on a regular basis (every five years) that they are up to date and fit to continue to practise in public health and they are able to provide a good quality of service. This means that being on UKPHR’s register will be an assurance that registrants continue to meet the professional standards set and upheld by UKPHR.

Chief Executive David Kidney says that the guidance is important because it is UKPHR’s first attempt to explain comprehensively its revalidation requirements:

“UKPHR is introducing revalidation for registrants. This is a major step forward for UKPHR and its registrants, marking a new stage in the register’s development and the assurance of ongoing competence and quality of service of the public health workforce. We are working hard to ensure that revalidation is explained so that registrants, their employers and the public can see what revalidation means in practice. UKPHR wants to be able to check once every five years that registrants have maintained and enhanced their competence and quality of service. We will need co-operation from registrants and other parts of the public health system for this to happen smoothly and effectively.”

Next steps for UKPHR to introduce revalidation successfully will include further awareness-raising activity and piloting of the arrangements to make sure that they will work in practice. In 2018, UKPHR will start to introduce revalidation as a mandatory element of registration so that the public, public health employers and commissioners of public health services can be confident that workers registered with UKPHR are regularly checked and they and UKPHR are committed to continuous improvement.

UKPHR has no statutory backing for its revalidation scheme and therefore goodwill from stakeholders in the public health system will be greatly welcomed. UKPHR intends to introduce revalidation in place of its existing re-registration process over the next three years.