GPhC subject to cost-efficiency review
The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) will be subject to more scrutiny and a detailed cost-efficiency and effectiveness review under plans announced by the Department of Health (DH).
Regulators are to be given extra powers to change their rules without the need for legislative change, but they will be more accountable and individuals may be able to raise concerns about them to CHRE, the regulator watchdog.
CHRE is to lead a sector-wide review of regulator cost efficiency, and the government has said it "would not expect registration fees to increase beyond their current levels".
The plans are outlined in the paper Enabling excellence, which was presented to parliament by health minister Andrew Lansley last week.
The DH outlined plans to identify cost savings in regulatory activities and pledged a simplification review of the legislative framework would give greater autonomy to regulatory bodies.
"Whilst parliament could continue to set in statute a high level legislative framework to provide the powers and duties of the professional regulatory bodies and the outcomes required from them, it would be for the regulators themselves to decide on, and take responsibility for, how these outcomes were delivered in practice and for ensuring that they were compatible with human rights and other legislation," the report said.
Alongside these changes CHRE is to work on a plan to "create a mechanism whereby individuals have a route to raise concerns about the policies of the regulatory bodies by the end of 2011".
Regulators including the GPhC must continue to work on proposals for revalidation systems for healthcare professionals.
In a statement Andrew Lansley said that professional regulation needed to be proportionate and effective.
"The changes we are progressing through the Health and Social Care Bill will give greater independence to those who work in healthcare across the UK and social care in England, to their employers and to the professional regulatory bodies," he said.
The DH also warned that the current regulatory system carried a significant cost to the tax payer as regulatory fees were tax deductible.
Read the full report on regulators here.
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