The Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2016

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations bring into force provisions of the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015 (c.28) (“the Act”). It is the second such set of regulations to be made under the Act.

Regulation 2(a) brings into force, on 26th September 2016, section 5 of the Act, which relates to the regulation of health and social care professionals. Section 5(1) of the Act amends section 25 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 (c.17) (“the 2002 Act”) (Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care). The amendment to section 25 of the 2002 Act substitutes for the existing paragraph (2A) a new paragraph (2A) and adds paragraph (2B), which relate to the over-arching objective of the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (“the Authority”). Section 5(2) of the Act gives effect to the Schedule to the Act, which makes provision about the objectives of certain regulators of health and social care professionals in respect of which the Authority exercises functions, and about when committees or panels of those regulators should have regard to those objectives.

Regulation 2(b) brings into force, on 26th September 2016, the Schedule to the Act. The Schedule to the Act amends specified legislation to make provision for a consistent over-arching objective of public protection for specified regulators of health and social care professionals. The legislation which is amended by the Schedule is: the Dentists Act 1984 (c.24), the Opticians Act 1989 (c.44), the Osteopaths Act 1993 (c.21), the Chiropractors Act 1994 (c.17), the Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (S.I. 2002/253), the Health and Social Work Professions Order 2001 (S.I. 2002/254), and the Pharmacy Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/231).