Clause 33 - Regulation of the profession of pharmacy
NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Bill
10:45 am
Mr John Hutton (Minister of State, Department of Health; Barrow and Furness, Labour)
To be honest, I am not sure whether we would have to make the changes that the hon. Gentleman suggests in future regulatory reform of pharmacy, or whether such changes could be undertaken outwith that framework of regulatory reform. I do not know the answer to that question, but I will try to furnish the hon. Gentleman with an answer as soon as I can.
I hope that I have made it clear that we do not have specific changes in mind in introducing the clause. We want to ensure that we have the greatest opportunity to use section 60 to make any necessary regulatory reforms called for in the future. It is worth bearing in mind—I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I labour the point—that we would not do that arbitrarily, on our own. Any future reforms in this area will be subject to intensive consultation with the profession. That is a requirement of the section 60 order-making process.
It is an essential prerequisite for future regulatory reform that it command the fullest possible support of the profession, and we are very much minded to ensure that it does. Any future changes will have to have the confidence of pharmacists generally if they are to be successful. I cannot answer the hon. Gentleman's specific question, and I will come back to him on it, but I would be surprised if the answer was that we would need regulatory reform to give pharmacists that particular role. I could be proven wrong, so I am hedging my bets furiously to avoid contradicting myself.
That is all that I want to say about pharmacy. This is largely a technical measure. It commands the support of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and is intended to give us maximum flexibility if at any future point we choose to make further reforms to the regulation of the pharmacy profession.