Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of healthcare professional regulators; and if he will take steps to consolidate them.

In 2021 the Government commissioned a review of the number of healthcare regulators, considering whether opportunities exist for simplifying the landscape. There are no current plans to reduce the number of healthcare professional regulators, but the Government is committed to reforming the system of regulation for healthcare professionals in the UK, making it faster, fairer, more flexible, and less adversarial.

A modernised regulatory framework will be introduced first for anaesthesia associates and physician associates, who will be brought into regulation under the General Medical Council by the end of 2024, before the reformed legislation is rolled out to doctors, and to the professions regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council over the following couple of years.