The Minister for Health & Children Mary Harney has signed an order bringing Part 11 of the Medical Practitioners Act, 2007 – Maintenance of Professional Competence into effect from Saturday, 1 May.

This means practitioners on the General Division and on the Specialist Division will be legally required to register with a Professional Competence Scheme by 1 May 2011. These professional competence schemes for surgery and for emergency medicine will be administered by RCSI.

The registration processes for professional competence within RCSI are still under development and the actual schemes are currently being drafted. Practitioners cannot complete the registration process until the schemes are approved by the Medical Council.

The Professional Competence scheme will include continuing professional development (CPD) and clinical audit however specific details of the scheme requirements will be sent to the practitioner once the scheme has been approved by the Medical Council.

Once registration is completed RCSI will inform the Medical Council that the practitioner has successfully registered. It is likely that a registration fee will apply but the amount cannot be confirmed until the schemes have been approved.