Self-regulation under threat, says President
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society's unique position as both professional body and regulator is under threat for political reasons, according to Hemant Patel, President of the Society.
Speaking at a Young Pharmacists’ Group conference held in Birmingham
last weekend, Mr Patel said that there was speculation about how the
Government planned to respond to the Foster review of health regulators.
He said: “We fear that the review may have adopted a position based
on the political imperative of being seen to change things rather than
delivering genuine improvement to health regulators.”
Also speaking at the conference, Sue Sharpe, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee and former director of professional standards
at the Society, suggested the Society was unlikely to continue in its
current form. She said she was doubtful about the sustainability of pharmacy’s
regulatory position. “Yes, it has worked brilliantly, but it is
anomalous … I do query whether we are going to see the end of self-regulation,
in terms of discipline, for all the health care professions.”
The YPG conference, entitled “Twenty twenty vision” took
the opportunity to celebrate the group’s founding some 20 years
ago, and focused on the past and future of the profession. In her speech,
Mrs Sharpe gave examples of political and environmental challenges for
the profession over the past 20 years, as a background for discussing
three key elements: service development, competition and regulation.
In response to the challenges around regulation, Mrs Sharpe said: “I
suspect that what we might be moving towards is actually a splitting
of regulatory functions, and the professions will take care of the entry
qualifications, the training, the continuous professional development.
But the disciplinary function I personally doubt is going to stay with
each individual profession for very much longer.” |
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