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Establishment project

This section provides information on the project, led by the Department of Health on behalf of the Scottish Government and Welsh Assembly Government, to establish the GPhC in 2010, parliamentary timetable permitting.

Professional Standards Programme

The Professional Standards Programme at the Department of Health has been set up to deliver the primary and secondary legislation required to reform the system for regulating health professionals in the UK.

This is in line with proposals in the White Paper Trust, Assurance and Safety: The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century. The objective of the White Paper is to improve patient safety.

Legislation Project Board

The Legislation Project Board is part of the wider governance structure for the Professional Standards Programme.

The Board is responsible for delivering the range of legislative reforms required to implement — within the time, cost and quality constraints of the establishment project — the recommendations in the White Paper and of the government working groups on enhancing confidence in healthcare professional regulators and on extending professional regulation.

Pharmacy Project Board

The Pharmacy Project Board, chaired by Dr Keith Ridge, the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, directs and controls the pharmacy regulation project to ensure that it delivers on time, within the approved budget and within agreed quality specifications.

The Board is responsible for the project and represents the interests of the Department of Health, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government, customers and providers.

The Board is accountable to the Professional Standards Programme Delivery Board (England).

The Transition Leadership Group and the Regulatory Task Force

Senior personnel from the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) (RPSGB) and the Department of Health (DH) meet each month to discuss the various work streams involved in the transition, in order to assist with the smooth handover of regulatory activities from the RPSGB to the GPhC. Key leaders form the Transition Leadership Group and a wider group of managers supports them as the Regulatory Task Force.

These work streams include:

• governance
• finance
• pensions
• legislation
• communications
• standards development
• devolved issues.

The Regulatory Task Force works to ensure that many of the operational aspects of the transition are dealt with, including issues such as accommodation for the GPhC, staff pensions and GPhC assets.
Action plans are drawn up at the meetings, and reports on action taken are provided each month to ensure that the establishment project remains on target.