Annual Report and Accounts 2025/26

A message from PSA's Chair and Chief Executive

We are pleased to introduce this annual report for 2025/26. This year we have continued our work to protect patients, service users and the public by improving the regulation and registration of health and social care professionals. We support high standards in regulation and registration through our performance reviews, assessments of fitness to practise cases (section 29), the Accredited Registers programme, and policy and communications functions. We have maintained our commitment to supporting the reform of professional regulation and to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

We oversee the work of 10 statutory bodies that regulate health and social care professionals. In undertaking our oversight role, we strive to strike a balance between scrutiny on the one hand, and advice and guidance on the other. During 2025/26 we developed a new set of unified standards for regulators and Accredited Registers. This involved a review of our current standards, a call for evidence, consultation on the draft new standards, and stakeholder engagement events. The new standards place a greater emphasis on governance, professional suitability and collaboration. The standards, together with a revised evidence framework, were published in March 2026 and will be implemented from July 2026. 

During 2025/26 we developed our new strategic plan for the period 2026-2029, which was published in April 2026. The plan sets out how we will encourage a more preventative approach to regulation through delivery of our statutory duties to help meet the challenges of today’s rapidly changing health and social care landscape. This reaffirms the PSA’s unwavering commitment to protecting the public. The strategic plan recognises that regulation can best support safe, effective care when it is targeted, proportionate and preventative, and when it works as part of a wider safety and quality system.

In our reviews of regulators’ performance over the year, we have found that they have generally performed well against the Standards of Good Regulation. Across all the regulators an average of 89% of the standards were met and three of the regulators met all the standards. Seven of the regulators did not meet Standard 15. This is a fitness to practise standard and the primary reason for it not being met is that it is taking too long to conclude cases. This is not good for regulators, registrants, and patients and service users. All but two regulators met at least 16 of the 18 standards. The Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland (PSNI) made some improvements in 2025/26, meeting 14 standards, compared to 11 in 2024/25. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) only met 11 standards in its performance review published in June 2025. The PSA recognises that significant steps have been taken by the NMC during 2025/26 to understand the issues within the organisation and improve its performance. Progress has been mixed, however, and there are some areas where the NMC has taken very limited action to address issues identified in the previous review. In the performance review published in May 2026, the NMC met nine of the 18 standards. We will continue to monitor closely the performance of the PSNI and the NMC. 

In reviewing regulators’ decisions about whether individuals on their registers are fit to practise, we find that the bulk of cases are managed to a high standard, with findings and sanctions that protect the public appropriately. However, every decision is important and there is room for further improvement. During 2025/26, 24 appeals under our section 29 powers were completed. Twenty-one of these appeals (88%) were either upheld or settled. One appeal was unsuccessful and two were withdrawn. During 2025/26 we also shared learning points with the regulators from our reviews to support improvements to their processes. 

The Accredited Registers programme has an important part to play now and in the future, providing assurance for the public in relation to unregulated health and social care roles. The programme now covers approximately 135,000 practitioners across 28 registers. In 2026/27 we will be introducing new standards for Accredited Registers and we will continue to seek ways to increase the awareness and use of the registers by employers, patients and service users.

In October 2025 we published a revised version of our principles-based framework Right-touch regulation and promoted this flexible and proportionate approach at meetings and conferences during the second half of 2025/26. In October 2025 we also held a successful symposium on ‘Turning insights from complaints into action: preventing harm in care’. This was followed in November 2025 by our popular annual research conference, with a theme of ‘Preventing harm: turning insight into impact’. Both these events support our focus on preventative regulation, which we will build on through the delivery of our Strategic Plan for 2026 to 2029. 

In April 2025, we welcomed Eleanor Marks as our new Board member for Wales. Our remit covers all four countries of the UK. As part of our commitment to working effectively with the respective governments, and to provide opportunities for stakeholder engagement, we hold Board meetings and seminars across the four nations of the UK on a revolving basis. We held our Board meeting in May 2025 in Northern Ireland and the meeting in September 2025 in Scotland. At both these events we took opportunities to engage with stakeholders in the two countries. We also held a joint seminar with the Welsh Government in March 2026.

To conclude, it has been a successful and productive year for the Professional Standards Authority. As we look forward to 2026/27 and beyond, we remain as committed as ever to improving regulation and registration to protect the public. 

Caroline Corby, Chair and Alan Clamp, Chief Executive