THE Church of England Mission and Public Affairs Council has
expressed "grave concerns" about government plans to absorb two
health watchdogs into the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
In a response to a Department of Health
consultation, the Council said that "transferring the functions" of
the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the
Human Tissue Authority (HTA) to the CQC presented "operational
risks". The functions of both bodies "require both considerable
executive expertise and detailed non-executive scrutiny".
The HFEA oversees the use of gametes and embryos in fertility
treatment and research; while the HTA regulates organisations that
remove, store, and use tissue for research, and approves organ and
bone-marrow donations from living people.
The church response spoke of "grave concerns with regard to the
ability of the Care Quality Commission . . . to absorb the
complexity and volume of the work". It questioned "whether savings
. . . could really be delivered" by the changes.
The Revd Dr Brendan McCarthy, National Adviser for Medical
Ethics and Social Care Policy for the Council, said this week:
"Even if the other factors did not militate against disbanding the
HFEA and the HTA, the CQC is not currently equipped to take on
their functions, and this is not likely to change for some time to
come."
Abortion debate. The Prime Minister said last
Saturday that the Government had "no plans" to lower the abortion
limit. Mr Cameron was speaking after the Health Secretary, Jeremy
Hunt, said that he favoured the lowering of the limit from 24 weeks
to 12. On Wednesday of last week, the Women's Minister, Maria
Miller, told The Daily Telegraph that she thought
that the abortion limit should be lowered to 20 weeks.