Infringements Committee to end anonymity of cases
Cases brought before the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's Infringements Committee are no longer to be considered anonymously, it was decided at the December
Council meeting.
The Council heard that there was no record of a Council decision requiring
anonymity. The current policy appeared to be a matter of custom and practice
introduced to avoid allegations of bias in the committee’s decisions.
However, no other health profession regulatory body has a preliminary
proceeding committee that deals with cases anonymously.
The Council was told that the current policy can make cases difficult
to follow for everyone concerned and it inhibits the ability to expedite
cases through the system. Anonymising documents is a lengthy process,
estimated to take up 30–40 per cent of the investigation staff
time.
Other safeguards already existed to ensure the integrity of the committee’s
decisions. Committee procedures adopted earlier this year include a rule
that no member shall take part in considering a case if he or she has,
or may have, a conflict of interest. Committee members’ declarations
of interest are soon to be made available on the Society’s website.
In addition, the committee now sits with a legal assessor, and committee
members receive extensive training.
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