Read the letter from Chair of HCPC, Christine Elliott in response to the Future of Healthcare speech by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock.
Dear Secretary of State,
You made a compelling case in your speech today for the removal of unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape in healthcare. I support your words fully.
The Covid-19 pandemic, and the response from all of us that it has required, vividly illustrates the importance and value of innovation, pragmatism and decisiveness. Those principles are just as important for the long-term future as they are now in this crisis. Regulation needs to be data-driven, targeted, responsive and good value.
In professional regulation, we urgently need a new legislative framework if we are to move beyond pre-pandemic old ways and we, with other regulators, have been working with your Department to prepare this. At HCPC we are committed to light touch, proportionate, risk-based regulation, and we have adopted those principles in recent months (even though they run against the grain of the framework under which we operate). But they undoubtedly represent the most effective way to keep patients and service users safe, while enabling and supporting the professionals we regulate to innovate and adapt to the rapidly changing world of healthcare.
In the spirit of your speech, may I urge you to bring forward as quickly as possible the secondary legislation we so urgently need? I know such action on your part would be widely welcomed and the HCPC stands ready to help its implementation. We must sweep away the outdated framework under which we struggle to operate if we are to modernise regulation and make sure it is fit for the future.
Yours,
Christine Elliott
Chair of Council