Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his timeline is for the reform of the regulation of healthcare professionals.

The Government is committed to modernising the regulatory frameworks for all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.

As a first step, we aim to consult on secondary legislation to modernise the General Medical Council’s (GMC) regulatory framework in early 2026 and to lay this legislation before Parliament in the same year. We also plan to deliver legislation for the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council within the current parliamentary period.

We will take forward legislative change within this Parliament to introduce a statutory barring system for senior National Health Service leaders and will set out further detail regarding this when we consult on the GMC Order in early 2026.