DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 9 February 2009
The new General
Chiropractic Council, the third new council set up this year in a
series of reforms to professional regulators, takes effect today.
Reforms are being introduced to healthcare regulators help to
ensure that councils act fairly and robustly, and are seen to be
independent. The White Paper "Trust, Assurance and
Safety", published in February 2007, put forward proposals
that the councils of regulatory bodies who are responsible for
setting and promoting standards for health professionals within
the UK, should revise their structure and appointment procedures.
Since the start of 2009 new council membership and structures for
three healthcare regulatory bodies have been introduced - the
Nursing & Midwifery Council, the General Medical Council, both
of which came into being on 1 January 09, and now, the General
Chiropractic Council.
Health Minister, Ben Bradshaw said:
"The reforms taking
place this year will help increase public and professional trust
in how healthcare professionals are regulated.
"These changes will continue to raise professional standards
in healthcare and encourage more transparency and high quality
services for patients. It is important that councils act
independently of the professions themselves, the Government,
employers and commissioners."
Two more reformed professional regulatory bodies - the General
Optical Council and the General Osteopathic Council are expected
to commence on the 1 April 2009.
The Department of Health also recently launched a public
consultation to make similar changes to the General Dental Council
and Health Professions Council in the Summer, and also on
proposals for a new pharmacy professional regulator.
Notes to Editors
1. The White Paper "Trust, Assurance and Safety - The
regulation of health professionals in the 21st century" was
published in February 2007 and set out proposals for reforming the
constitutional arrangements for the healthcare regulatory bodies.
The main proposals were that:
i. Councils should have, as a
minimum, parity of membership between lay and professional members
to ensure that purely professional concerns are thought to
dominate their work;
ii. Council members should be
independently appointed to dispel the perception that councils are
overly sympathetic to the professionals they regulate;
and
iii. Councils should become smaller and more board-like to
enable them to focus more effectively on strategy and oversight.
2. For further details on each of the three councils, please
see:
Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC):
http://www.nmc-uk.org
General Medical Council (GMC):
http://www.gmc-uk.org
General Chiropractic Council (GCC):
http://www.gcc-uk.org
3. Consultation on the proposed constitution of the General
Dental Council, the Health Professions Council, and proposals for
a new pharmacy professional regulator are currently underway and
all will be concluded by April 09. More information is available
from http://www.dh.gov.uk/publications
4. For further details contact the Department of Health press
office on: 020 7210 5221.