How fees are used

About fees

By law any doctor who wants to work in the UK must be registered with us. Doctors without registration and a licence to practise can’t treat patients in the NHS or private sectors. From 13 December 2026, physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) must also be registered with us to practise in the UK.

All doctors, PAs and AAs need to pay a fee to register with us and an annual fee to remain on our registers. We aim to keep fees as low as possible, while making sure that we’re able to deliver our statutory functions. We offer a range of payment options to spread the cost of the annual fee, including paying in quarterly or in ten monthly instalments. 

As a registered charity, our focus is entirely on delivering our statutory functions for the benefit of the public. We don’t operate to make a profit, so the income we receive goes back into our work to support the delivery of good, safe patient care across the UK.

Supporting professional practice

We set the standards of patient care and professional behaviours expected of those we regulate and create practical resources to help them apply these standards throughout their careers.

We work with employers, educators and healthcare organisations across the UK to embed the professional standards and help create respectful, fair and compassionate workplaces.

We also work with professionals and organisations at a local level to support patient safety and quality improvement through our outreach teams.

Overseeing the quality of education and training

We help make sure that education and training prepares those we regulate to deliver good, safe patient care. 

Through our quality assurance processes, we check that education and training is delivered in environments that are safe, effective and supportive. We use evidence from across the UK, including surveys and engagement with learners, educators, and employers, to identify where improvements may be needed and to take action where appropriate.

We also work with education and training providers and employers across the UK to tackle discrimination, disadvantage, and unfairness in education and training. We’ve set targets to address areas of inequality by 2031. We continue to work with a range of organisations to create and test interventions that aim to address these issues.

Registration and managing our registers

We make sure that doctors, PAs and AAs have the knowledge, skills, qualifications and experience needed to deliver good, safe patient care. We do this by maintaining our registers and checking those who join them meet the requirements for registration. 

We also support the processes that help make sure the professionals we regulate continue to meet the standards we set throughout their careers.

Managing complaints about doctors, PAs and AAs

We assess concerns about doctors, PAs and AAs and take action if we believe patient safety or the public’s confidence in the professions we regulate may be at risk. Where a concern is raised,  we’ll always consider the circumstances and any relevant context we’re aware of when deciding whether we need to take it forward.

Being under investigation can be stressful. We’ve introduced changes in recent years to help reduce the impact on everyone involved, and we regularly review how these changes are working. We continue to identify opportunities to improve our processes, including making sure our communications are as clear and compassionate as possible.

We’re committed to delivering better, fairer regulation. Working with partners across the UK’s healthcare systems, we continue to improve our processes and decision making so that they are robust, fair, proportionate and compassionate. You can find out more about our priorities and future plans in our 2026–30 corporate strategy.

Data, research and insights

Our data, research and insights programme helps us to better understand the challenges faced by the professionals we regulate and the patients they care for, as well as the impact of our work. This informs where we focus our efforts to support good, safe patient care across the UK.

We produce reports and analyses on education and practice, as well as workforce trends, to support policymakers, employers and workforce planners. 

We also commission research to help improve education and career development, patient care and workforce planning.

Managing the organisation

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) carries out an annual, independent review to check we’re delivering all our statutory functions effectively. We’re pleased that, in its latest review, the PSA found that we met all 18 Standards of Good Regulation.

The review also recognised our work to regulate doctors, PAs and AAs, and highlighted strengths in areas including equality, diversity, and inclusion and fitness to practise.

As a four-country regulator, we have offices in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. We work with doctors, PAs, AAs, employers, educators and patient organisations across the UK to support the professions we regulate and the people they care for.

Like other organisations, our operating costs rise due to inflation. We keep any increases to our fees as low as possible, while still making sure we can continue to work with patients, the professionals we regulate, and other stakeholders to maintain our regulatory functions.

We regularly review our staff benefits to make sure that they are cost effective. For example, our staff can opt-in to a private healthcare provision, which is a taxable benefit.

You can find out more about our work by reading our corporate strategy, annual report and national reports for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.