05.06.14
Healthcare regulation reform fails to make Queen’s Speech
The Law Commission’s proposed Regulation of Health & Social Care Professionals Bill failed to make it into this year’s Queen’s Speech – leaving many regulators feeling ‘disappointed’.
On top of this, there was no mention of pre-legislative scrutiny for the draft Bill, which aims to create a single legal framework for all the regulators of health and social care professionals.
During a recent meeting in Manchester, the Law Commission’s Tim Spencer-Lane had hinted that the Bill might not make the Queen’s Speech. But it had been rumoured that the Bill could go to pre-legislative scrutiny before a joint committee of both houses of Parliament – leaving it for the next government to decide whether to take the Bill forward after next year’s general election.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) – the most vocal of the regulators calling for the Bill’s adoption – stated that it is “disappointed that the government has not included this revolutionary Bill in its final session of parliament”.
Jackie Smith, chief executive and registrar of the NMC, said: “Both the NMC and the public it protects now continue to be left, indefinitely, with a framework that does not best serve to protect the public.
“We will now take time to digest this disappointing news and work with the Department of Health on how we can now move forward and ensure the NMC is able to fulfil its ambition of becoming a more efficient and effective regulator.”
Other regulators, including the General Medical Council and the General Pharmaceutical Council, also voiced their disappointment on the decision to exclude the Bill from the Speech.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the General Medical Council, said: “Healthcare is changing rapidly and the law which governs professional regulation is cumbersome and outmoded. We have already introduced a wide range of reforms but in going further we are hamstrung by processes which are no longer fit for purpose.
“The Bill represents a once in a generation opportunity to future-proof medical regulation and better protect patients. We strongly believe these long-awaited reforms will be good for patients, doctors and the healthcare system.”
(Image: c. Suzanne Plunkett)
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