Government praises CRHP for good practice among regulators
The Council for the Regulation of Health Professionals has been held up by the Government as an example of good practice among independent regulators.
The Government’s comments follow recommendations from the Cabinet
Office Better Regulation Task Force that could impact on the operation
of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (PJ, 25 October 2003, p569).
Among the recommendations that the Government supports are that related
regulators should be brought together at regular intervals for best practice
updates, something that CRHP does.
It also agreed that independent regulators with enforcement powers should
sign up to the Government’s Enforcement Concordat by April this
year.
The Government agrees in principle that regulators should hold open meetings
for stakeholders at least annually. A possible exception to this is where
all stakeholders are represented on a regulator’s management board.
It also agrees in principle that there should be an appeals mechanisms
to allow regulatory decisions to be challenged.
Mandie Lavin, the Society’s director of legal affairs and fitness
to practise, said that the Society has signed up to the Enforcement Concordat. “We
recognise that the task force has come up with some good recommendations
that should promote public confidence.”
She added that there are some areas where the Society would have to put
transitional arrangements in place. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal