Our focus

Supporting good, safe patient care

We’ll work with others to create healthcare environments that are inclusive, supportive and fair.

We have set five strategic objectives to achieve our goal of supporting good, safe patient care. 

Promote good practice 

Our goal is to support doctors, physician associates, anaesthesia associates and students in a way that is relevant to the challenges they face and helps them understand and apply the professional standards in their work.  

We will have succeeded if we maintain positive perceptions of the clarity, relevance and helpfulness of our standards, advice, and outreach support. More of the professionals we regulate will also agree in response to our surveys that we support them to provide good, safe care. 

Work with others to improve workplace cultures and tackle workforce inequalities 

Our goal is to work with others so that together we are effective in improving workplace cultures, developing clinical leadership, and tackling persistent inequalities in the workforce.

We will have succeeded if we can demonstrate tangible impacts of our work to tackle discrimination and unprofessional behaviour. We will also have achieved our current targets in relation to disproportionate employer referrals and will be making good progress towards eliminating discrimination, disadvantage, and unfairness in education and training.

Encourage career development and lifelong learning 

Our goal is for there to be greater flexibility and innovation in education and training, and a greater focus on lifelong learning. 

This is so all the professionals we regulate, whether they are in formal training or not, are better supported to develop the clinical and professional skills that are relevant to the needs of patients and the public across a range of settings and sectors. It will also enable them to have fulfilling careers, which will aid retention of talented professionals in the UK workforce. 

We also want to be effective in our work with others to develop more, better supported and more diverse educators, trainers, and supervisors. This is vital to maintain the pipeline of future clinical and leadership skills we will need.

We will have succeeded if doctors in training continue to rate the quality of their training highly, as measured through our national training survey. We will also see evidence of improved access to learning and development opportunities for registrants who are not in formal training programmes. 

Share our data and insights to drive change 

Our goal is to use and share relevant data, research and insights to support the development of local and national healthcare policies and plans across the UK.  

We will have succeeded if our stakeholders continue to say that our data, research, and insights help them with their work. We will also see increased agreement that we are focusing on the right issues as a regulator. 

Work collaboratively with healthcare partners 

As a four-country regulator, we engage with partners across the UK to understand the contexts in which they operate and build understanding of our work. We also work collaboratively with partners to make sure the standards we set are met, and patient safety is maintained. 

Our goal is to be effective in how we work with others to deliver our regulatory processes. We also want to better understand the environments in which our registrants practise and train, and make sure our priorities remain relevant. 

We will have succeeded if stakeholders continue to say that we work well with them and others to keep patients and registrants safe. We will also see improved stakeholder perceptions of us as a listening organisation. 

Delivering better, fairer regulation

We’ll modernise our processes to make them faster, fairer, and better able to support good practice. 

We have set four strategic objectives to achieve our goal of delivering better, fairer regulation. 

Improve and sustain fairness in our decision making 

Our goal is to make sure that the decisions we make are compassionate, fair, and robust. 

We will have succeeded if we can demonstrate compliance against the anti-bias measures we have introduced. We will also have confidence that our decision makers are displaying the behaviours we want to see. And we will be transparent about how we assure the fairness of our decision making.

Deliver regulatory reform 

Our goal is to secure a more modern, flexible, and effective legislative framework that will allow us to make our processes faster and simpler, as well as more compassionate, for the people involved in them. 

We will have succeeded if the new legislative framework provides us with the legal basis to carry out our functions effectively and we can show how it will enable us to realise the benefits of regulatory reform.

Develop our education framework to meet the UK’s changing and diverse health needs

Our goal is to make sure that the framework we set for the education and training of doctors, PAs, and AAs is relevant to the changing needs and expectations of patients, the changing structure of the healthcare workforce, and a changing health service.

This includes that the professionals we regulate will have the capabilities needed to care effectively for diverse patients and communities and address healthcare inequalities. They will also be equipped to deliver care innovatively and safely, using new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). 

We will have succeeded if we can show how the revised education framework responds to the changing needs of patients. We will also be able to show how it will help our registrants gain the knowledge and skills they need.

Continue to develop and improve our regulatory processes 

Our goal is to maintain and develop our approach to being an effective regulator of doctors, PAs, and AAs. This means continuing to be robust in how we carry out our responsibilities, while being fair, flexible, proportionate, and compassionate in how we treat the people who are involved in our processes. 

We will have succeeded if can demonstrate successful delivery of programmes of work to develop and improve our regulatory processes. We will also continue to perform strongly against our key performance indicators and meet all PSA standards.

Making every interaction matter

We’ll make our services accessible and treat everyone with kindness, respect, and efficiency. 

We have set four strategic objectives to achieve our goal of making every interaction matter. 

Improve our customer service 

Our goal is to make sure that everyone, regardless of disability, background, or circumstance, can understand and use our services. This includes making it easier for everyone to engage with us. And we want to make sure they have clear, compassionate, and consistent experiences when they do. 

We will have succeeded if we maintain existing high levels of customer satisfaction. We will also be able to demonstrate that we routinely seek and act on feedback to improve experiences of our services.

Understand the people who interact with us 

Our goal is to understand better the diverse characteristics of the people who interact with us. This is so we can make sure our policy, services, and processes are effective and accessible. 

We will have succeeded if the quality of our data on those who interact with us improves. We will also be using this deeper understanding of those with diverse backgrounds to improve experiences and shape our services. 

Involve people in our work 

Our goal is to continue to strengthen our engagement with people who are affected by our work. This is so that we develop relevant, evidence-based, inclusive, and proportionate policy, services, and processes. 

We will have succeeded if we can show how the experiences, expectations, and needs of patients and carers, the public, and the professionals we regulate have helped shape our work.

Make it easier to understand what we do and why 

Our goal is to communicate clearly about our role, reduce fear of our fitness to practise processes, and build trust and confidence that we regulate in a way that is effective, relevant, and compassionate. 

We will have succeeded if we maintain positive perceptions of the quality of our communications. We will also continue to see increased confidence in how we regulate.

Being an inclusive and well-run organisation

We’ll invest in our people and culture, and use resources responsibly, to maximise our impact. 

We have set five strategic objectives to achieve our goal of being an inclusive and well-run organisation.

Strengthen our leadership 

Our goal is to develop confident, inclusive leaders who promote equity and effectively manage change. This is to foster a fair, inclusive, compassionate, and productive workplace where people feel supported, feel able to ask questions and challenge assumptions in their work, and thrive. 

We will have succeeded if we have met our ED&I representation targets, strengthened our leadership and change management capabilities, and seen improvements in inclusivity scores.

Invest in our people to deliver 

Our goal is to keep building an open and supportive culture that prioritises wellbeing and helps people grow. Our aim is to create a stronger, more adaptable workforce with the relevant skills we need to shape the organisation’s future.

We will have succeeded if we maintain high staff engagement scores and can show how we have addressed structural inequalities in pay, promotions, and turnover for ethnic minority and disabled colleagues. 

Enhance our digital capabilities 

Our goal is to deliver an effective digital technology programme that strengthens our cyber security, boosts productivity, and improves the digital experience for our people, and the people we serve. We also want to support future innovation and change, while managing costs and risks. 

We will have succeeded if we have maintained information security, improved existing technology, and implemented new digital tools to improve productivity and user experience.

Work efficiently and effectively 

Our goal is to work as efficiently as possible so that we can be effective in a constantly changing environment, using evidence and evaluation to inform our decision making.

We will have succeeded if we are able to show how our assessments of risks and benefits help us to manage our resources effectively, and we can demonstrate improved efficiency in how we work.

Demonstrate social responsibility and environmental sustainability 

Our goal is for our environmental sustainability work to be relevant and to demonstrate tangible impacts. We also want to be a socially responsible organisation. 

We will have succeeded if we are on track to meet our net zero goal and can assess our impact and value as a more sustainable organisation.