GMC helps shape UK-wide regulator commitment to tackling racism in health and social care

Published 15 May 2026

The General Medical Council has worked with other UK health and social care regulators, including the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), to commit to nine shared anti-racism principles aimed at tackling longstanding racism faced by staff across the sector.

The principles agreed by the regulators build on the independent NHS Race and Health Observatory’s Seven Principles of Anti-Racism and commitments made following a regulatory roundtable held last year.

Headline commitments of the nine shared principles, Advancing Workforce Race Equity in Health and Social Care: Shared principles across regulators, include:

  • naming racism
  • valuing lived experience
  • showing leadership
  • collaborative working
  • data and insight development
  • empowering approaches
  • using our powers effectively
  • influencing progress together
  • transparency and accountability.

The move represents a coordinated effort by regulators to address racism and inequality affecting health and care professionals across the UK.

Other signatories so far include the Health and Care Professions Council, Social Work England, General Optical Council, General Pharmaceutical Council, General Chiropractic Council and the General Osteopathic Council.

The announcement came as the NHS Race and Health Observatory hosted an event in London bringing together more than 150 senior NHS leaders, government representatives and health and care stakeholders to discuss the long-term issues of racism and inequality in the workplace.

Chief Executive of the General Medical Council, Charlie Massey, says:

‘There is no place for racism in healthcare, yet we know that for too many people it remains part of their everyday experience. It affects their confidence, their wellbeing, and their ability to provide the best care for patients.

‘These shared principles are significant, and the collective commitment to them by regulators is powerful. It reflects a common purpose and a shared intent to act, and to make a meaningful difference to the lives of people working in health and care services, as well as those they care for.’

Additional organisations are expected to commit to the principles which are set to be reviewed annually.

The GMC’s commitment to tackling discrimination in healthcare has included setting a target to eliminate disproportionate employer fitness to practise referrals of doctors from an ethnic minority, or who qualified outside the UK, by the end of this year. The latest figures show encouraging progress towards achieving this goal.

Read the nine anti-racism principles and find out more about them.