At the moment there is no regulation or a requirement to be registered so I don't suppose anybody has the right to question manufacturers representatives competence unless there's evidence to the contrary and the individuals asking are in a responsible position, employed to oversee the contracts, etc. The customer has rights to a certain level of service if they're paying for it I suppose but I don't think this extends to challenging individuals directly unless they're blatently flouting H&S or good practice in plain view.
Hopefully regulation would allow the protected job title to at least give an indication that an individual has 'jumped through the hoops' and is maintaining competences, etc, via CPD. Thus evidence is there if an individual is challenged. Otherwise, without documentary evidence of assessment/competences, it is more difficult to prove competence, move between jobs, or to develop within a career in the NHS.
It's the employer, in this case the NHS, in conjunction with the HPC through IPEM, IIE and ART, etc, that will require employees performing certain roles, with a protected job title, to be registered I think. It's not really got anything to do with individuals as such (in the same way as it's nothing to do with me what my colleagues rate of pay is).
I think that regulation should extend to 3rd party concerns that take on in-house NHS services but I doubt the NHS will try to regulate manufacturers or 3rd parties in practice. The requirement would have to be written into service-level contracts, etc, etc, and it would cost extra no doubt.
If regulation comes into being I doubt maunufacturers will be required to employ individuals who're registered but registered employees will probably drift-in from the NHS and be able to use the protected titles. It's probable that the more reputable companies will ensure that at least some of their employees are registered.
