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PSA publishes report aimed at strengthening fitness to practise decisions
02 Oct 2025
The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has today published its first report focused on its ‘Section 29’ appeals. Appealing fitness to practise decisions: the year in focus covers the period from April 2024 to March 2025, and presents key data, comparative statistics, case studies, and thematic insights aimed at improving the robustness, fairness, and safety of fitness to practise decision-making by regulators’ panels.
The report explains more about the PSA’s role under Section 29 of the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act, including why and how it decides to appeal a regulator’s panel decision and, when it decides not to, how learning points are shared to help regulators improve their processes.
The report shows that of the 2,230 fitness practise decisions received in 2024/25, the PSA reviewed 1,216 and went on to appeal 21 of these. It also identifies themes emerging from its review of panel decisions such as a steady rise in cases relating to sexual misconduct/harassment over the last five years, from 3.9% in 2021/22 to 10.2% in 2024/25.
Rachael Culverhouse-Wilson, the PSA’s Head of Legal, said:
“This is the first time we have collated our Section 29 insights and published it in a report. We anticipate that regulators will find it useful for training their fitness to practise teams and panellists. We also anticipate that it helps to raise awareness of our Section 29 role, what it involves and how it contributes to public protection. In future, we want to make more of our convening role including sharing good practice and this report is one way to achieve this.
“Next year we will be publishing our 2026-29 Strategic Plan as well as revising the Standards we use to assess regulators and Accredited Registers. We want to use learning from our Section 29 work to inform our revised fitness to practise standards.
“We welcome feedback to help shape future reports and enhance regulatory practice.”
ENDS
Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk
Notes to the editor
- The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) is the UK’s oversight body for the regulation of people working in health and social care. Our statutory remit, independence and expertise underpin our commitment to the safety of patients and service-users, and to the protection of the public. There are 10 organisations that regulate health professionals in the UK and social workers in England by law. We audit their performance and review their decisions on practitioners’ fitness to practise. We also accredit and set standards for organisations holding registers of health and care practitioners not regulated by law. We collaborate with all of these organisations to improve standards. We share good practice, knowledge and our right-touch regulation expertise.
- The power to review and appeal fitness to practise decisions comes from Section 29 of the NHS Reform and Health Care Professions Act. This is why we often use ‘Section 29’ as our shorthand when referring to this power.
- The report details our Section 29 work from April 2024 to March 2025. To note that appeals are not always resolved in the same year in which they are lodged.
- We also conduct and promote research on regulation. We monitor policy developments in the UK and internationally, providing guidance to governments and stakeholders. Through our UK and international consultancy, we share our expertise and broaden our regulatory insights.
- Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.