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The PSA welcomes the Government commitment to reform healthcare regulators
12 May 2025
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) welcomes a renewed commitment from the UK Government to proceed with plans to update the legislation of the healthcare professional regulators.
The changes will allow regulators to be more agile and efficient in protecting the public. They will also introduce a less adversarial and quicker process for dealing with concerns about healthcare professionals. The work will begin with the General Medical Council’s (GMC) framework for doctors, before moving on to the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
These changes will support a more proportionate and targeted approach, in line with the PSA’s own right-touch regulation approach. There is, however, still work to be done to make sure the changes to the legislation strike the right balance between efficiency and autonomy on one hand, and public protection and accountability on the other.
These once-in-a-generation reforms are also an opportunity to look again at how decisions about who needs to be regulated are made. If it is done right, this is an opportunity to reduce any over- and under-regulation, in step with the Government’s agenda for the wider regulatory sector. This will help make sure the scale of change needed within the UK health services happens in a safe way.
Working with the four UK Governments, the regulators and those affected by these changes, we will do everything that we can to maximise the benefits of reform. As a first step, we have prepared guidance, to be published shortly, to support regulators to use their new powers in ways that best protect the public.
Caroline Corby, Chair of the PSA said:
“We’re delighted to see this commitment from the Government to the next phase of these reforms, which have been in the pipeline for many years. A regulatory framework that enables greater agility and responsiveness by the regulators should support the upcoming reforms of the NHS and have benefits for both the public and health professionals.”
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.
- We are currently reviewing Right-touch regulation and we plan to publish an updated version in the autumn.
- Social Work England has not been considered in scope for these reforms, as it was set up in 2019 and therefore benefits from up-to-date legislation.