Dear Colleagues
As you may be aware, on the 14 November 2016 the High Court of South Africa (SA), Western Cape Division (Case No: 12420/13) ruled, inter alia:
and suspended the invalidity for two years:
This order affords the Minister of Health, the HPCSA and the Professional Board for Psychology (Board) the opportunity to correct the defects in the Scope of Practice (SOP) over the next 21 months. This moment provides an opportunity for all in psychology to make representation to the Board in terms of changes that will ensure that the defects created by the current SOP do not plague the discipline in the future.
The Psychological Society of SA (PsySSA) has convened two meetings – one in Gauteng and one in the Western Cape to consult on a way forward re: the SOP. Further meetings are planned across other regions in South Africa. However, it is important to establish the preferences of as many psychology professionals and students on the possible ways forward for the SOP. Hence the request to participate in a survey on your preferences for the SOP. Your responses will be anonymous.
The survey canvasses your opinion on the best way forward for SOP in South Africa based on seven proposed models. The survey also canvases your support for transverse registration (the term used by the 6th Board for those psychologists who wished to register in another category than the one they were currently confined to) and community service. You may wish to view the presentation that provides some contextualisation and detail on the models. This is the presentation from the stakeholder meetings. Click here to access the presentation.
