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PSA statement on hate crime and hate speech
25 Sep 2025
We are aware of increasing concern from some groups about what is acceptable among health and care practitioners in relation to expressing opinions about current topical issues and global events. Examples of these are the current conflict in the Middle East, debates about UK immigration, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender.
We all have the right to personal beliefs and political opinions. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) affirms that while preserving freedom of speech is important, hate crime and hate speech are unequivocally unacceptable. Such behaviours undermine professional standards and erode public confidence in healthcare practitioners.
We expect the regulators and Accredited Registers (ARs) we oversee to review individual cases of alleged hate crime, hate speech and discrimination in accordance with their standards and fitness to practise processes, and to take appropriate action when it is found. We also expect them to recognise the impact this behaviour can have on professionals, when they experience or witness hate crime, hate speech or discrimination in the workplace and be proactive in identifying ways to support registrants.
Regulators and ARs should have due regard to the relevant legal frameworks, including the Online Safety Act 2023. They should be aware of the expectations that the public, and the law, may have of health and care professionals when considering cases involving freedom of expression and hate speech. They should also make sure to consider whether registrant behaviour is likely to uphold public confidence.
The PSA will continue to monitor the actions of regulators and ARs in this area through our oversight powers. Where we are not satisfied that final panel decisions by the regulators are sufficient to protect the public, which includes upholding public confidence in the profession and maintaining professional standards, we will consider exercising our powers to appeal the outcomes of those cases to the courts. We do not have this power in relation to the ARs.
Hate crime, hate speech and discrimination have no place in our health and care systems, or in our wider society.
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.
- 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.
- There is no single, overarching legal framework for hate crime and hate speech in the UK. Across the UK, all four countries recognise hate crime as any criminal offence perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and ‘transgender identity’. However, the scope and enforcement measures across the four countries differs and in Northern Ireland, ‘sectarian hatred’ is a distinct category. We have reference to relevant legal frameworks when considering individual cases.
- The Online Safety Act 2023 established a UK-wide regulatory framework to address online illegal content and activity including abusive content targeted at protected characteristics, including race (section 16 (4)), or content inciting hatred towards people, including of a particular race or religion (section 16 (5)).
The Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of "sex" in the Equality Act 2010: for Women in Scotland can be found here: Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of "sex" in the Equality Act 2010: For Women Scotland - House of Commons Library. - Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.