Regulator and leadership body do not need to be within same organisation, says Keith Ridge
There needs to be a close understanding between the profession's leadership body and the profession's regulator but the two do not need to be part of the same organisation, Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer for England, said during a debate held at the British
Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester earlier this week (see p313).
His view echoed that of Bill Scott, chief pharmaceutical officer for
Scotland, who suggested that members of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s
Council are driven by a desire to improve the profession and professional
practice rather than being motivated to stand for Council to be good
regulators.
Carwen Wynne Howells, chief pharmaceutical adviser for Wales, said it
is clear that there needs to be a separation of the regulatory and professional
leadership roles but suggested that any changes need to be carefully
managed. “The status quo is not an option,” she said.
However, she warned that it is important that the benefits gained through
the current model of dual regulation and professional leadership are
not lost.
“We need to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and work out where
these functions can sit appropriately and where the interdependencies
are,” she
said.
Dr Ridge stressed that the debate about the separation of the Society’s
professional and regulatory roles should not be a long one.
“As a profession we are at the crux of fundamental change and opportunity.
To embrace it we need strong leadership and strong regulation. What we
don’t need is a five-year debate,” he said. |
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