Society to lose prosecutor and judge double role
Legislation will be introduced in the new session of Parliament to strip
the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of its power to both prosecute and
judge professional disciplinary cases.
The Government used the Queen’s speech in the House of Lords this
week to announce that the Health and Social Care Bill would be used to
create an independent adjudicator to undertake independent and objective
formal adjudication for the professional regulatory bodies.
The same Bill will be used to bring into being a new regulator — the
Care Quality Commission — to oversee all health and adult social
care. The new commission will bring together the current functions of
the Healthcare Commission, the Commission for Social Care Inspection
and the Mental Health Act Commission. The registration system for providers
of health and adult social care will be expanded to include most NHS
providers, but not community pharmacies.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said that the regulation of pharmacies
would remain with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society for the time being,
but that the Bill provided for that responsibility to transfer to the
planned General Pharmaceutical Council.
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