What is regulatory reform?

The legislation that governs how we work as a regulator was introduced over 40 years ago and is complex, overly prescriptive and slow to adapt to change. It has hampered us and other regulators in our efforts to protect the public and support those we regulate to deliver good, safe patient care.

Reform will give us a more modern and responsive legislative framework. It will allow us to act more quickly and flexibly when patient safety is at risk, and it will mean we can better support good practice.

Between the 24 March 2026 to 21 July 2026, the UK government consulted on new draft legislation which will reform how we regulate doctors. We've published our response to the consultation, setting out the proposals we support alongside areas where we'd like to see changes. 

The Department of Health and Social Care will now consider consultation responses, before setting out the next steps for the legislation.