A LEGAL loophole that allows medical professionals found unfit to practise in the UK to continue working in Jersey is due to be closed as part of a new law aiming to overhaul the current “piecemeal” system for policing health and social care professionals in Jersey.
Health Minister Tom Binet, who is behind the draft legislation, warned that Jersey’s fragmented registration system means there is “no single accurate record of the healthcare professionals who are practising in the Island”.
“This presents a risk to the public of potential malpractice or substandard care”, according to the report – and, as a result, “there is a chance that professionals who have been found unfit to practise by a UK regulator may appear to be entitled to continue practising in Jersey,” he said in a report explaining the Draft Health and Social Care Professionals Register (Jersey) Law.
Under the proposed law, any health or social care professional – from doctors and nurses to dentists, pharmacists and psychologists – who is required to be registered with a UK regulator would also have to be registered locally with the Jersey Care Commission before they could lawfully practise in the Island.
“Registration in Jersey is a form of secondary registration, which acts as a ‘check’
on UK registration and ensures that fitness to practise decisions made by national bodies
can be implemented in Jersey,” explained Deputy Binet.
The new system would “mitigate the risk that professionals who have been found unfit to practise in the UK may continue to practise in Jersey”, particularly self-employed individuals who are not subject to day-to-day employer oversight, the minister said.
Practising without registration would become a criminal offence, carrying a penalty of up to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine. Falsely claiming to be registered, or using protected professional titles without authorisation, would carry the same sanction, and employers who knowingly hire unregistered professionals would also face prosecution.
However, there would be exemptions for those “acting reasonably” in an emergency, students or trainees under supervision, and those practising in Jersey for less than 72 hours per year for a “special purpose” – which includes organ transplantation or organised events.
If approved by States Members, the new law would also remove the Jersey Care Commission’s current power to make its own fitness-to-practise decisions.
Instead, those judgements would rest with UK regulators, which the minister said have “the resources, expertise and independence to discharge these responsibilities effectively”.
The Jersey Care Commission’s role would be to enforce those decisions locally, ensuring that someone suspended or struck off in the UK cannot quietly continue working in the Island.
The regulatory body would be required to maintain a single, comprehensive and publicly accessible register showing who is practising in Jersey, their professional status in the UK, and any conditions attached to their registration.
“This enables the public to reliably check that any registered healthcare professional is suitably qualified to practise in Jersey and make informed decisions about engaging their services,” the minister said.
All registered professionals would have to renew annually, allowing the register to be “routinely cleansed and kept up to date”. If a professional’s UK registration is suspended or cancelled, their Jersey registration would automatically follow.
No registration fees would be charged under the new law, responding to concerns about “double charging” for professionals already regulated in the UK.
The £72,000 annual running cost of the registration scheme would be met by Health and Care Jersey.
If approved by the States Assembly, the new law would come into force in early 2027.
