In Reshaping regulation for public protection, we set out our views on the Government's proposals on reforming regulation - particularly as they relate to the Health and Care Bill
What is covered in Reshaping regulation for public protection?
In our latest short report on reforming regulation, we explain why we support the Government’s proposals in the Health and Care Bill for reform of professional regulation. We also offer advice on what successful reform should look like.
What is included in the Health and Care Bill?
The Health and Care Bill, currently going through Parliament, includes new powers for the Secretary of State to:
- merge or abolish any of the healthcare professional regulators
- deregulate professional groups.
An independent review of the professional regulatory landscape is also due to report to the Government on options for change later this year.
Why is reform needed?
Public inquiries have highlighted that lack of coordination and cooperation between the different parts of the complex patient safety landscape can contribute to things going wrong or prevent problems being detected. So we agree that reform is needed.
Creating a single regulator would be the best way to deal with the problems in the current system and would make regulation simpler for patients, professionals, employers and educators. However, we recognise that there may not be an appetite for such a big change at this time – but reducing the overall number of regulators would help and could be a first step towards a simpler, more coherent framework. We also think the Government should regulate professions based on the risks of harm.