Any health or social care professional required to register with a UK regulator will now have to be registered locally with the Jersey Care Commission before they can lawfully practise in Jersey.
A new law aiming to overhaul the current “piecemeal” system for policing medical workers in Jersey was unanimously approved in the States Assembly yesterday.
Health Minister Tom Binet, who proposed the new 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,” he explained.
The new system will “mitigate the risk that professionals who have been found unfit to practise in the UK may continue to practise in Jersey,” added Deputy Binet.
Practising without registration will 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 are 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.
The new law, which will come into force in early 2027, also removes the Jersey Care Commission’s current power to make its own fitness-to-practise decisions, with those resting with UK regulators instead.
The Jersey Care Commission’s role is to enforce those decisions locally, ensuring that someone suspended or struck off in the UK cannot continue working in the island.
The regulatory body is 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.
All registered professionals will have to renew their registration annually. 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.