BRIS-70 Response Historic

Establish single regulatory bodies for each distinct healthcare professional group

Recommendation

For each group of healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses and midwives, the professions allied to medicine, and managers) there should be one body charged with overseeing all aspects relating to the regulation of professional life: education, registration, training, CPD, revalidation and discipline. The bodies should be: for doctors, the GMC; for nurses and midwives, the new Nursing and Midwifery Council; for the professions allied to medicine, the re-formed professional body for those professions; and for senior healthcare managers, a new professional body.

Published Evidence Summary
The following publicly available evidence relates to this recommendation:
- The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 established the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) as the single body for the regulation of nurses and midwives (Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/253/contents). - The Health Professions Order 2001 established the Health Professions Council (now the Health and Care Professions Council, HCPC) to regulate various allied health professional groups (Health Professions Order 2001, https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/254/contents). - In its 2019 response to the Kark Review, the government stated it would not establish a statutory regulator for NHS managers, instead opting for a strengthened 'Fit and Proper Person Test' (Government response to the Kark Review, 2019, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-fit-and-proper-person-test-review-government-response).
How was this assessed?
Assessed by gemini-3-flash-preview on 24 Mar 2026
Checked data held on this site (government responses, progress updates, independent evidence)
External sources searched: www.gov.uk, www.legislation.gov.uk, hansard.parliament.uk
This recommendation requires implementation across many organisations. The assessment reflects central policy response, not adoption in individual organisations.
Jurisdiction
UK-wide
Response
Historic

No government response recorded.

Source
Inquiry Bristol Heart Inquiry
Report Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report 18 Jul 2001
View Source
Themes & Tags
Quality and safety oversight Staff suitability and fitness
Recommendation age 24.7 yrs
Last formal update No formal updates