Page 161 - Human Rights

Faculty of Nursing
Adult care Nursing Department

Box 10.1 Characteristics of Independent Healthcare Regulation

1 Public Interest:

The main goal of healthcare regulation is performance improvement based on the public interest
to protect a major social good (healthcare access is a social and political right in many countries).

Promoting competition through market-like approaches is an important, though a secondary,

objective. 2 Authority:

The regulator is recognized as such by all the stakeholders, and there is a specific legal framework
for its activity.

3 Centralization:

Control, supervision, and monitoring of the healthcare system are centralized in one or more

specific agencies to ensure the best regulatory outcome.

4 Independence:

To produce the best regulatory outcome, the regulator is financially, organically, and functionally

independent from the government and the regulated organizations.

In this way regulatory capture is avoided and equal treatment is promoted.

5 Regulatory Governance:

The regulator is an exterior entity with respect to market activities and should be accountable to

society in a fair and transparent manner, specifically to the Parliament Select Committee on Health

and other formal institutions

healthcare when public providers compete with private ones for public financing.

The growing role of non-majoritarian institutions reflects the changing nature of policy-making in

which the lack of credibility of democratic politicians undermines long-term strategies.

139 Academic Year 2025/2026