Safeguarding

Safeguarding Patients 23
2.23 There will therefore continue to be an important role for the regulation both of provider
organisations and of individual health professionals. However, there has been an increasing
recognition in recent years of the potential impact of regulation – not merely the direct costs of the
regulator itself, but also the indirect costs in both time and money falling on the organisations or
individuals being regulated. Regulation therefore needs
• to be proportionate to the risks of harm in the absence of regulation;
• to seek to minimise the cost of regulation by use of appropriate instruments such as the use
of self-assessment forms instead of physical inspection visits, and by adopting an educational
rather than a punitive approach where possible; and
• to be consistent and joined up, with different regulators working together to minimise the
impact on those being regulated.
These principles were set out in the 1997 guidance from the Better Regulation Task Force
Principles of good regulation 40 and have been powerfully reinforced in the recent report of the
Hampton review 41 . The Government’s proposals for the future direction of both professional
regulation (as set out in Trust, assurance and safety) and the regulation of healthcare organisations
(as set out in The future regulation of health and adult social care in England) are fully informed by
these principles.