Minister for Health (): In response to the
COVID-19 pandemic, to support the National Health Service and
social care providers, the Government enabled some healthcare
professional regulators to establish temporary emergency
registers. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health
and Care Professions Council (HCPC) maintain emergency registers
using powers conferred to them under the Coronavirus Act (CVA)
2020; the General Medical Council (GMC) and the General
Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) maintain emergency registers using
existing powers. The circumstances to justify the continuation of
these emergency registers are reducing as the impact of the
pandemic reduces. I am today announcing our intention that the
emergency registers will close on 30 September 2022. This will
provide those healthcare professionals who are practising on the
basis of emergency registration six months in which to take up
full registration if they so wish. Prior to the closure of the
emergency registers the Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care will notify the regulators that the emergency conditions no
longer apply, and the registers will close.
Context
The NMC and the HCPC currently maintain emergency registers using
powers conferred to them under the Coronavirus Act (CVA) 2020.
Under section 89 of the CVA, the Act will automatically expire
two years after coming into force. This means that, following
expiry, the NMC and HCPC will no longer be able to add new
registrants to their emergency registers, but those already
registered will remain so until the register is subsequently
closed. The GMC and the GPhC currently maintain emergency
registers using powers they held prior to the pandemic.
The powers to set up emergency registers, both under the CVA s.2
and in the GMC and GPhC legislation, can only be exercised where
the Secretary of State declares a state of emergency to exist.
To manage the closure of the emergency registers and mitigate any
impact on the NHS workforce we are providing regulators,
registrants and employers with six months’ notice of the closure
of the registers, in order to facilitate transfers between
emergency and permanent registers. At the end of this notice
period the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will
notify the regulators that the circumstance required for
emergency registration no longer apply. Once this notification is
the emergency registers will close and those professionals on the
emergency register will be unable to continue to practice.
