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Health Professions: Dismissal

Asked by Mark PritchardConservativeDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 16 December 2024UIN 18356

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of (a) doctors, (b) nurses and (c) other medical professionals were struck off from practicing in the NHS in 2022-23; and if he will publish the country of origin of their baseline medical qualifications.

Answered by Karin Smyth

The Department does not hold the requested information centrally. All groups of healthcare professionals have their own regulatory bodies, for example, the General Medical Council is the regulator of all medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom, and the Nursing and Midwifery Council is the regulator of all nurses and midwives in the UK, and nursing associates in England. Healthcare professional regulators are independent of the Government, are directly accountable to Parliament, and are responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of their statutory duties. Regulators will hold data on professionals removed from their registers, and may be able to share this information upon request.

Any general practitioner, optometrist, or dentist offering National Health Service primary care services must also be registered on the NHS England Performers Lists. NHS England will hold data on professionals removed from the Performers Lists.

The Department does not intend to publish the country of origin of the baseline medical qualifications held by healthcare professionals removed from regulators’ registers or the Performers Lists.

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