PSA response to Government announcement on strengthening accountability for senior NHS Managers in England

23 Jul 2025

We welcome the Department of Health and Social Care's (DHSC) proposals to strengthen accountability for senior NHS managers in England by creating a barring scheme for those who commit serious misconduct, to be run by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). It is positive that the DHSC has indicated this will sit within a package of measures to strengthen leadership within the NHS, alongside the leadership and management framework currently under development by NHS England. This will include professional standards and a single national code of practice covering candour and accountability for mechanisms to record and respond to patient safety concerns effectively.

We also welcome the DHSC’s commitment to establish a new college of executive and clinical leadership, to support and professionalise managers across the NHS and look forward to seeing further detail on this in due course.

We note that at this stage the barring scheme will exclude leaders within primary care, the independent sector and social care but welcome the commitment in the response to the consultation to keep this under review and consider extending the scope of regulation to more parts of the system in due course.       

Alan Clamp, PSA Chief Executive said: "We welcome these proposals which should help to ensure that senior managers operating within the NHS maintain an appropriate standard of competence and conduct. As the plans for the barring scheme are developed, it will be important to consider implications for UK-wide access to healthcare and how the public can be protected no matter where they live. It will also be important to ensure clear communications with all stakeholders on how this fits with existing regulatory mechanisms."

The PSA will be monitoring proposals closely as they are developed and considering further any implications for our oversight of the HCPC, in partnership with the DHSC and NHS England.

Notes to the editor

  1. 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. 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.
  2. Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.
  3. Find out more about our work and the approach we take