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With many organisations involved, it seems there is some consensus at national level that the healthcare regulatory landscape is – at best – a complex environment.

But that could be set to change after chiefs in Whitehall brought in KPMG in June to review the number of professional regulators and look at ways in which this could be reduced.

Despite being commissioned in the summer, the review has only just been made public, with the Department of Health and Social Care publishing the contract notice last month.

According to the DHSC, it is accepted among “stakeholders” that having nine professional regulatory bodies can be “confusing for the public”.

Amid ongoing work to reform the healthcare regulators’ legislation through the new Health and Care Bill, the DHSC therefore felt it was a good time to look again at the number of regulators.

The review could spell changes for the General Medical Council and Nursing and Midwifery Council, as well as seven other professional regulators which cover a range of specialties.

KPMG were due to complete the review by last month, and their recommendations will be considered by Sajid Javid in the coming months. 

Pressure on to loosen guidance

Several senior hospital clinicians with covid expertise have said national guidance is “crippling healthcare” by taking large numbers of beds out of action and blocking patient flow.

Infection prevention and control rules require contacts of confirmed covid cases in health and care settings to be isolated for 14 days, regardless of testing negative. 

While the confirmed-covid patient is moved to a room or covid-positive cohort, the remainder of the ward must also be isolated for two weeks. It means any remaining beds cannot be used and makes it very hard to move the patients within hospitals, and sometimes difficult to discharge them.

HSJ understands the issue has been raised with the UK Health Security Agency, which oversees the national rules, and with NHS England national directors, and that senior officials are reviewing it.

Pat Cattini, an infection control nurse and former president of the Infection Prevention Society, said on Twitter: “While in hospital [contacts] have to be isolated for 14 days. This guidance has never changed despite vaccination and changing epidemiology and is crippling healthcare.” 

She called for the issue to be reviewed “urgently” and said: “This is a huge driver of bed pressure.”