Remove Red Tape

You can read comments made during the theme spotlight (9 March 2012 – 12 April 2012), by sub-category below.

Over 250 regulations are within scope of the Medicines Red Tape Challenge. Much of our legislation derives from the EU, such as the clinical trial and medicines directives and we are keen to identify where more efficient ways to enforce regulation can be found that reduce unnecessary administration but do not weaken necessary public health safeguards.

Over the next five weeks that the medicines theme is live we are keen to hear from those with ideas about streamlining regulation. You will be contributing to an important exercise that seeks to identify areas for change and more effective ways of achieving common goals to improve how we currently regulate medicines.

This exercise covers the regulation of medicines and aspects of pharmaceutical practice. A further exercise covering the remainder of Department of Health regulation that impacts on business, such as the cost of medicines, voluntary organisation or the citizen, but excluding the NHS, will be covered in a separate Red Tape Challenge in the autumn. The regulation of medical devices is currently under consideration by government and will form part of a separate Red Tape Challenge at a later time.