A proposal from the United Kingdom Department of Health could bring an end to the era of professional self-regulation for doctors and other health professions by 2008. A Department spokesman said the question of self-regulation arose in response to the Harold Shipman Inquiry (CMAJ 2003; 169: 461); several other high-profile cases; and the Chief Medical Officer's review of medical regulation, Good Doctors, Safer Patients (July 2006). The Department has now published its white paper: Trust, Assurance and Safety: The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century. Parliament must pass a Bill before the proposals come into effect; to date the bill has not even been tabled.
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