GOC meets to discuss White Paper reforms

Implementation of the government's White Paper recommendations and the future make-up of the GOC were high on the agenda at a meeting of Council members in Belfast on March 13.

At the meeting, which marked the regulatory body's 50th anniversary, Council members discussed ways to drive forward the recommendations outlined in the White Paper on healthcare regulations.

Members were asked to decide whether the Council should be reconstituted with a parity of lay and registrant members in April 2009, or whether it should be reconstituted when the legislation was in place to enable a lay majority (early 2010).

This follows from a decision by members at a meeting in March 2007 to reduce the number of members from 28 to 13, with a lay majority to meet a government recommendation that healthcare regulatory bodies should become smaller and more 'board-like'.