Updates regarding the regulation of paramedics
Paramedic Registration Update
Paramedic Registration under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance (HPCA) Act 2003 was announced in November 2019. This is a significant moment for the Paramedic profession in New Zealand.
From 1 January 2020 Paramedics are formally recognised and registered under the HPCA. This will give additional assurance to the public of New Zealand that Paramedics are appropriately qualified and competent to practice. This will also enable the establishment of the Paramedic Council – equivalent to the Medical Council or the Nursing Council. Importantly, the independent Paramedic Council will be made up of both Paramedics and lay people who will oversee registered Paramedics into the future.
Nominations for members of the Paramedic Council will be sought early in 2020. Once the Council is established, it will spend some time setting up the new standards and processes required before all Paramedics must be registered.
In the meantime, we have established a small workgroup, The Paramedic Regulatory Advisory to start collating some of the documentation the Paramedic Council will need once they are in place.
It is important to note, this workgroup and will be disbanded, once the Paramedic Council are selected by the Minister of Health through the Appointments Committee process. All decisions regarding Paramedic registration will be made by the Paramedic Council in due course.
This interim workgroup has been selected based on the individual’s networks, involvement in establishing Paramedic regulation elsewhere, access to relevant standards, documentation, data and knowledge of the regulatory framework.
We expect a lot of consultation will commence in the second quarter of 2020 once the Paramedic Council start meeting – this will include professional standards, codes of practice, cultural competencies etc.
In order to keep registration costs to a minimum, we have partnered with the Nursing Council to assist the Paramedic profession to establish the Paramedic Council. This will not only minimise cost, but we get to draw on the Nursing Council’s vast experience in developing regulatory processes and to share their existing administrative systems.
We are establishing a new website to keep the sector informed of progress and the transition to the Paramedic Council – you can view it here - https://www.paramediccouncil.org.nz
There will be a lot of work for the Paramedic Council but at this point we are aiming for registration to commence in the latter part of 2020.
Kind regards, The Paramedic Regulatory Advisory WG