CONSULTATION
IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR, THE THEN HEALTH MINISTER, SIMON HAMILTON, ANNOUNCED THE LAUNCH OF A PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON HOW REGULATION OF THE PHARMACY PROFESSION IN NORTHERN IRELAND WOULD BE DELIVERED IN THE FUTURE.
PHARMACY REGULATION
Explaining his objective to strengthen and modernise regulation of the pharmacy profession in NI, the Minister said that ‘the pharmacy profession plays an important and valued role in the delivery of health care in Northern Ireland. However, I consider that now is the right time to review the current arrangements for pharmacy regulation in NI to ensure that we have modern, fit for purpose arrangements that ensure public safety and which carry public confidence.’
The consultation, which the Minister launched, presented a number of options:
* that regulation of the pharmacy profession would continue to be
16 - PHARMACY IN FOCUS
delivered by the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI), ie, as both a regulator and leadership body
* that a standalone NI regulator would be appointed, or that
* NI would join the current regulatory model operating across the other three UK countries provided by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC)
THE HISTORY
Since 1925, regulation of the pharmacy profession in NI has been performed by the PSNI, which is based in Belfast. The Society currently performs the function of both regulation and professional leadership
for pharmacists in NI. However, this dual role is counter to modern thinking regarding professional regulation, which advocates that, to operate effectively in the public interest, a regulator should be totally and demonstrably independent from the profession it regulates.
In total, there are nine healthcare regulators in the UK, consisting of approximately 1.44 million professionals. In comparison with the other UK healthcare regulators, the PSNI, along with the NI Social Care Council, are the only regulators, which retain this dual, potentially conflicting, role. Furthermore, pharmacy is the only healthcare profession which is not regulated on a UK-wide basis.
While in post, Simon Hamilton had agreed in principle to split the regulatory and professional leadership functions which were undertaken by PSNI; a move which was backed by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), who, despite finding that PSNI had met all but one of the Standards of Good Regulation in 2014/15, supported the proposals to separate professional regulation and professional leadership.
‘In our view,’ the PSA said in its report on the issue, ‘this would be most efficiently and effectively achieved by transferring the regulatory powers of the PSNI to the GPhC (Option 3). The purpose of regulation is to protect the public, to maintain public confidence in the profession, and to uphold professional standards. Professional leadership works to promote the interests of the profession, and therefore should be separate from any regulatory arrangements. We understand the concerns that some NI stakeholders might have about a four- country regulator being less in-touch with local issues. However, in our view, this risk could be mitigated by the governance measures suggested in the consultation document. Furthermore, we believe that the benefits in terms of cost-efficiency, effectiveness and workforce mobility
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