Reflecting on reform – healthcare regulation in the UK
John Lucarotti, Regulatory Partner, recently presented at the Westminster Health Forum – an online event exploring ‘Next steps for professional healthcare regulation in the UK’.
John spoke about regulatory reform for health and social care professional regulation, including:
- the context to the legislative reforms;
- aspects of the new legislative framework which are contentious (including fewer grounds for action in fitness to practise); and
- its likely impact on upstream regulation.
Other topics discussed included the regulation of medical associates, professional regulatory priorities in enabling workforce development, and the consequences of prolonged delays to regulatory reform.
Key takeaways
Reflecting on the session, John Lucarotti said:
There clearly remains plenty of cross-sectoral interest in (and appetite for) legislative reform of health and social care professional regulation, notwithstanding the collective frustration around the limited progress made on this work in recent years.
We are analysing the impact these reforms will have on our regulatory clients. Events like these ensure we can contribute to the important debate around what regulation should look like and also inform our planning for how we can best assist clients to implement these changes.
What's next?
The UK government aims to consult on secondary legislation in early 2026 to modernise the GMC’s regulatory framework, with the goal of laying this new legislation before Parliament the same year, before turning its attention to the legislation of other regulators. We will continue to engage with the sector to understand and anticipate the impacts of the new legislation.
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