Regulation, a personal opinion

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Jeremy Taylor

Regulation, a personal opinion

by Jeremy Taylor

Regulation in health and social care comes to public attention only intermittently – and generally in the context of things going wrong. But patients and citizens are increasingly involved in decisions about regulation through consultation and engagement exercises of various kinds. With a great deal of change in prospect for health and social care, now is an excellent time to step up the level of engagement.

The new government is embarking on a major reform of health and social care that seems likely to turn the machinery of the NHS on its head. And it is also has to find £20 billion of savings in the next three or four years to allow the NHS to meet growing demand – even within a ring-fenced budget. All this change increases the risks to quality and safety. Regulators will need to get sharper at spotting the signs of stress and intervening early before things go wrong. That means sharper intelligence gathering and better channels of communication. How about a single portal allowing patients and citizens to raise concerns which might have regulatory implications – and accessible by all the regulators? The portal idea has been debated for a while. Isn’t it time now to just do it?

Regulation is about more than intervention. The government has said that it wants to create a patient-led service, with more empowered patients and professionals working together to drive the NHS. Now is a good time for patients to be better informed about the standards to which health professionals should be held accountable and to be involved in shaping those standards and the way they are applied. National Voices’ recent work with the General Medical Council on revalidation has demonstrated a huge appetite for patient engagement in these issues, as well as a need for regulators to be better at communicating the excellent, but often invisible work they do.

Jeremy Taylor,

Chief Executive

www.nationalvoices.org.uk

NOTE: The views in this article have not been expressed by or on behalf of CHRE