PSA and 38 health and social care regulators and registers issue joint statement of intent on the regulation of AI in healthcare
17 Sep 2026
The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), 10 health and social care professional regulators and the Accredited Registers Collaborative (which represents 28 Accredited Registers) have committed to jointly developing a set of high-level principles to guide how they will regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by health and social care professionals across the UK. This is aimed at achieving greater consistency across the regulatory landscape to build confidence in how the technology is used.
This commitment was made in a Joint Statement of Intent published today supporting the safe, effective and ethical use of AI by health and social care professionals. The statement signals a formal collaboration among these organisations towards putting safeguards in place to protect patients while enabling the significant benefits and innovation that AI can bring to health and social care.
The joint statement follows the recent recommendations published by the National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare. These recommendations aim to create a regulatory framework that is safe, fast and trusted and included recommendations for how the UK’s regulatory framework should evolve as AI becomes increasingly developed and used across health and social care. The Commission highlighted that managing AI is a shared responsibility and that health and social care professionals have their part to play.
The Commission’s report welcomed work by the PSA and the professional regulators and Accredited Registers it oversees to explore these issues together. The PSA and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are co-chairing a dedicated Task and Finish Group bringing together professional regulators and the Accredited Registers Collaborative. This statement is an early result of this joint work.
By working together, the PSA, regulators and Accredited Registers can help support innovation that is adopted safely, proportionately and in ways that maintain public trust.
"As AI becomes increasingly embedded in health and care, regulation must keep pace. Effective regulation can't be developed in isolation, and the Commission's report rightly recognises the need for coordination across the regulatory landscape. Through our work convening health and care professional regulators and Accredited Registers on AI, the PSA has seen first-hand the value of collaboration and shared learning. Confidence by the public and professionals in the benefits of AI rests on appropriate safeguards, accountability and consistency in expectations about how it is used. By working together, we can take a preventative approach to regulation that supports innovation while maintaining professional standards."
“The Accredited Registers Collaborative welcomes this commitment to a coordinated approach to the safe, effective and ethical use of AI across health and social care. AI has significant potential to support professionals and improve services, but its adoption must be underpinned by clear, proportionate expectations that protect patients and the public while enabling responsible innovation. By working collaboratively across professional regulation, we can provide greater consistency and clarity for registrants and help ensure that the use of AI continues to command public confidence and trust.”
"The GCC welcomes a coordinated approach across professional regulation to support the safe, effective and ethical use of AI in health and care. AI has real potential to benefit patients, the public and professionals, when used responsibly, transparently, and in ways that maintain public trust.
“As regulators, our role is to help make that possible: giving professionals clarity, supporting innovation, and ensuring professional standards and the safety of patients remain at the heart of care."
“Artificial intelligence is already changing how dental care is delivered. Dental professionals want clarity on what is expected of them when they use it, and patients need to be confident that AI is being used in their care in a safe and responsible way. We keep abreast of current and future trends so we can respond to emerging challenges with joined-up solutions, and this cross-regulatory statement is a good example of that collaborative approach in action.”
“We welcome this joint commitment to develop shared principles across regulators. Working together will help create greater clarity and consistency, support responsible innovation and maintain public confidence in how AI is used.
“AI has the potential to bring significant benefits for patients and to support our registrants in delivering safe, effective care. But while the technology is evolving rapidly, the fundamentals remain the same: patient safety, professional judgement and accountability must always come first.
“As AI becomes more widely used in healthcare we will continue to set expectations for doctors, Physician Associates and Anaesthesia Associates to use these tools safely, responsibly and ethically.”
"We are pleased to join other regulators in publishing this statement of intent on AI, which marks an important step in unlocking the benefits that AI can bring across all areas of healthcare, as well as ensuring risks are appropriately managed.
“AI has the potential to enhance the efficient delivery of safe and effective eye care, alongside a regulatory infrastructure that supports responsible innovation and protects the public. We are committed to working collaboratively with other healthcare regulators to promote a consistent approach to regulating the use of AI in a variety of healthcare settings."
“We recognise that AI presents significant opportunities for healthcare professionals and their patients, and its use is becoming increasingly widespread across the healthcare sector. We welcome the opportunity to work with other regulators to develop shared principles that support innovation while promoting safe, high quality and ethical practice. The General Osteopathic Council has already taken steps to support the responsible use of AI, including publishing interim guidance for osteopaths and working with education providers to implement the shared principles on use of AI in education that we published jointly with other regulators. We look forward to building on these foundations and collaborating with others to create a consistent approach that supports professionals to use AI responsibly, and in ways that help to maintain public confidence and deliver benefits for patients.”
"AI has the potential to improve patient care and support healthcare professionals, but its benefits will only be fully realised if patients and the public can be confident that it is being used safely, responsibly and transparently.
“The GPhC is committed to helping ensure that AI enhances safe and effective pharmacy care, while upholding professional standards and maintaining public trust.
“We welcome the Commission's recommendations and look forward to working with partners across the health and care system to promote a consistent and proportionate approach to AI regulation. By working together, we can support responsible innovation while maintaining the high standards of care, professionalism and accountability that patients and the public rightly expect."
"Public trust will be essential if the benefits of AI are to be realised. People should be able to understand when AI is being used in their care and have confidence that professionals can explain how it has informed decisions affecting them.
“Health and care professionals remain responsible for the decisions they make, regardless of whether AI has been used to support them.
"At HCPC we regulate the professionals who will use AI tools, not the technology itself. As AI develops, our focus remains on maintaining public confidence, supporting safe innovation, and ensuring that the standards expected of professionals continue to protect the public.
"This collaboration is an important step towards a consistent approach across professional regulation that enables the benefits of AI to be realised while keeping patient safety, transparency and public trust at its heart."
"Artificial intelligence has the potential to help shape the future of health and care – improving people’s experiences and outcomes when professionals are supported to use the technology confidently, safely and fairly.
"We look forward to working with the Professional Standards Authority to develop its shared principles for the future of AI in health and care practice.
“By working together, regulators can help create the conditions for AI to be used safely, equitably and ambitiously, unlocking real benefits for practitioners and the people in their care – while keeping public protection at the heart of progress."
"AI has the potential to bring real benefits to health and social care. As regulators, we share a responsibility to ensure these technologies are used safely and in ways that maintain public trust. This statement is an important step towards a more consistent approach across professional regulation."
“Social workers need clarity about what is expected of them when using AI, and the people they support need confidence that their care and wellbeing remain firmly in human hands. These principles mark an important step towards a consistent approach to AI regulation, and we are committed to working closely with our partners across health and social care to get this right."
ENDS
Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Contact: media@professionalstandards.org.uk
Notes to the editor
Signatories to the joint Statement of Intent are: Accredited Registers Collaborative
- General Chiropractic Council
- General Dental Council
- General Medical Council
- General Optical Council
- General Osteopathic Council
- General Pharmaceutical Council
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland
- Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
- Social Work England
- The Accredited Registers Collaborative represents organisations in the Accredited Registers programme. Find a list of PSA-accredited registers on our website.
- The National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare published its final report and recommendations on 10 September 2026. To inform the PSA’s inputs to the Commission’s work, we conducted a workshop into patient and public expectations of AI in health and care with the University of Bristol. The report of that workshop is available on our website. Also available is our response to the call for evidence by the National AI Commission.
- 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.
- Our values are – integrity, transparency, respect, fairness and teamwork – and we strive to ensure that they are at the core of our work.