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Two health regulators spared axe Two health regulators spared axe
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Two health regulators that faced the axe in NHS cuts are to be retained. The government has launched a review that will look for ways to cut the costs of regulating and approving research into human embryos and other tissues.
Last year ministers launched a consultation on whether the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and Human Tissue Authority (HTA) should be scrapped, with their powers absorbed by other regulators, as part of broader plans to cut NHS administrative costs by a third by 2015. The Department of Health announced the review after deciding not to axe two health regulators that it had planned to disband as part of a money-saving "bonfire of the quangos".
Many of those who responded said such a move would lead to a loss of expertise. The functions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) were to have been absorbed by the Care Quality Commission, the NHS regulator.
On Friday the public health minister, Anna Soubry, said the regulators would be retained. A review will explore how they can perform their duties in a "more streamlined and efficient way". But in a consultation last summer, expert organisations including the British Medical Association and the Wellcome Trust argued against the plans, forcing a reversal.
Soubry said: "As the use of techniques like IVF and tissue engineering increase the scope for therapies and treatments, we need to support our regulators' vital role in keeping patients safe. The public health minister, Anna Soubry, said the department was launching a review to find "further efficiencies" in the way both regulators worked.
"We have a duty to taxpayers to make sure that services are delivered in the most efficient way possible. By making sure that responsibilities are being carried out at the right level, we can free up savings to support frontline NHS services. The two-month review, led by the head of the Health Protection Agency, Justin McCracken, will look for ways the bodies can better work together and reduce and streamline inspections, information collection and procedures for approving research.
"We have listened to the views of those who responded to this consultation and it's clear further work is needed to ensure they offer taxpayers the best value." The review will also look at merging the two organisations, but such a move would require fresh legislation, which the Guardian understands ministers are reluctant to pursue. A similar proposal, to merge the HFEA and HTA into a body called the Regulatory Authority for Tissues and Cells, was abandoned in 2007 after criticism from a committee of MPs.
Baroness Warwick, chair of the HTA, said: "We welcome the decision to retain the HTA and to establish an independent review of regulation in this area. Since we were established, we have become recognised as a highly successful regulator. We see the proposed independent review as an opportunity to build on our positive reputation, and we look forward to having this perspective on our work." Soubry said: "As the use of techniques like IVF and tissue engineering increase, the scope for therapies and treatments, we need to support our regulators' vital role in keeping patients safe."We have listened to the views of those who responded to this consultation and it's clear further work is needed to ensure they offer taxpayers the best value."
Professor Lisa Jardine, chair of the HFEA, said: "I am delighted that the government has decided that the HFEA's dedicated expert regulation of IVF and embryo research will continue. Lisa Jardine, chair of the HFEA, said she was "thrilled" at the decision to save the regulator. "As for the review, as long as it does not prolong the uncertainty, I am only too happy to consider ways in which our two organisations can work more productively together."
"I have always believed that the interests of the fertility patient, who of course matters most, are best served by having a specialist regulator. We already work closely with the HTA and I welcome this review as an opportunity to identify where we can strengthen and streamline those arrangements still further." An HTA spokesperson said: "We see the independent review as an opportunity to build on our reputation and look forward to the findings. We already work closely with the HFEA and other regulators and will continue to do so."
Rachel Cutting, chair of the Association of Clinical Embryologists, said: "The news is good for patients and centres. We had concerns regarding any benefit to abolishing the HFEA but we very much welcome the review to ensure further improvements and efficiencies are made."
Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust, said: "On one hand the government has decided to save the HFEA and the HTA from being submerged into the CQC, but on the other their new review will give serious consideration to the merger of the HFEA and HTA.
"More importantly in my opinion is that it should aim to reduce the bureaucratic burden on researchers and IVF clinics so that both time and money are saved there as well as in the civil service."