In 2012 the Ministry of Health sought submissions from responsible authorities on the operation of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. In its submission to the Ministry, the Psychologists Board explained how it had described its scopes of practice very broadly, how the Board had intended that the scopes would reflect and support the long-standing pattern of psychologists shifting or expanding into new areas of practice, how this was entirely possible under the Act, and how psychologists’ range of practice is subsequently constrained primarily by ethical and competence concerns, not by the breadth of their scope of practice
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In 2012 the Ministry of Health sought submissions from responsible authorities on the operation of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003. In its submission to the Ministry, the Psychologists Board said this:
“In 2003 the Board decided to define very few scopes of practice, to describe them very broadly, and to prescribe common core competencies that underpin them all. By so doing we intended that the scopes would reflect and support the long-standing pattern of psychologists shifting or expanding into new areas of practice. This approach was entirely possible under the Act in its current form.
…
As evidenced by the Board’s practice since 2004, broad scopes can be established that adequately describe the work of the profession but that are also flexible enough to not unnecessarily restrict the range of a practitioner’s practice. The practitioner’s range of practice is subsequently constrained primarily by ethical and competence concerns, not by the breadth of their scope of practice.”
The Board also said:
“2. How can the HPCA Act be used to promote a more flexible workforce to meet emerging challenges faced by the health system?
The current Act is non-prescriptive in regard to the establishment of accreditation standards and the level of detail to be included in gazetted scopes of practice. As evidenced by the Board’s practice since 2004, broad scopes4 can be established that adequately describe the work of the profession but that are also flexible enough to not unnecessarily restrict the range of a practitioner’s practice. The practitioner’s range of practice is subsequently constrained primarily by ethical and competence concerns, not by the breadth of their scope of practice.”
Footnote 4 read:
“The Board has gazetted a very broad “Psychologist” scope that all practitioners hold (alongside any vocational scope they also hold) once fully registered. Incidentally, the Psychologist scope overlaps to a significant degree with the main scope gazetted in 2008 by the Psychotherapy Board.”