by
Alan Clamp, Chief Executive
| Mar 31, 2020
Current circumstances have meant that we could not say goodbye in person to our Chair, George Jenkins, who is stepping down today – so we say goodbye and wish him good luck online through our blog.
After a memorable four years of courteous leadership, today marks the end of George Jenkins’ term as Chair of the Authority. While current circumstances have prevented us from doing so in person, we take this opportunity to thank George for his work in achieving the cusp of our progress in regulatory reform, and his unwavering enthusiasm for what we do and our role in protecting the public.
George has done a magnificent job of leading the Authority and keeping us focused on our strategic objectives – and the benefits of this for protecting patients and service users. Since George took on the position in 2016, the Authority has published 18 regulator performance reviews, 22 reports, and has scrutinised 12,000 final fitness to practise decisions. Much of the Authority’s progress in regulatory reform can also be attributed to George’s contributions over the past four years.
The publication Right-touch reform has helped to influence the debate and put forward proposals for future development and improvement. It provides context of the current regulatory landscape as well as an in-depth analysis of what needs to change to make healthcare regulation fit for purpose. Alongside many others in the health and social care sector, we called for reform of regulation, building upon our principles of right-touch regulation and highlighting that the regulators’ piecemeal legislation hinders the effective regulation of a modern workforce. The long-awaited government consultation on reforming regulation in 2018 provided the first opportunity to look at how regulation could be improved so that it properly protects patients and supports professionals to do the right thing. This vital work has enabled us to have an international dialogue about regulation and its role in patient safety.
And this is just the beginning – the work that the Authority has undertaken during George’s time as Chair has succeeded in opening the conversation, providing ample opportunity for big changes in regulatory reform in the years to come.
We would like to thank George for all he has done for the Authority, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.