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Reforms are being introduced to healthcare regulators help to ensure that councils act fairly and robustly, and are seen to be independent. The White Paper "Trust, Assurance and Safety", published in February 2007, put forward proposals that the councils of regulatory bodies who are responsible for setting and promoting standards for health professionals within the UK, should revise their structure and appointment procedures.

Since the start of 2009 new council membership and structures for three healthcare regulatory bodies have been introduced - the Nursing & Midwifery Council, the General Medical Council, both of which came into being on 1 January 09, and now, the General Chiropractic Council.

Health Minister, Ben Bradshaw said:

"The reforms taking place this year will help increase public and professional trust in how healthcare professionals are regulated.

"These changes will continue to raise professional standards in healthcare and encourage more transparency and high quality services for patients. It is important that councils act independently of the professions themselves, the Government, employers and commissioners."

Two more reformed professional regulatory bodies - the General Optical Council and the General Osteopathic Council are expected to commence on the 1 April 2009.

The Department of Health also recently launched a public consultation to make similar changes to the General Dental Council and Health Professions Council in the Summer, and also on proposals for a new pharmacy professional regulator.

1. The White Paper "Trust, Assurance and Safety - The regulation of health professionals in the 21st century" was published in February 2007 and set out proposals for reforming the constitutional arrangements for the healthcare regulatory bodies. The main proposals were that:

• Councils should have, as a minimum, parity of membership between lay and professional members to ensure that purely professional concerns are thought to dominate their work;

• Council members should be independently appointed to dispel the perception that councils are overly sympathetic to the professionals they regulate; and

• Councils should become smaller and more board-like to enable them to focus more effectively on strategy and oversight.

2. For further details on each of the three councils, please see:

Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC):

http://www.nmc-uk.org

General Medical Council (GMC):

http://www.gmc-uk.org

General Chiropractic Council (GCC):

http://www.gcc-uk.org

3. Consultation on the proposed constitution of the General Dental Council, the Health Professions Council, and proposals for a new pharmacy professional regulator are currently underway and all will be concluded by April 09.

http://www.dh.gov.uk/publications

Monday 9 February 2009 10:54
Department of Health

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