The government is starting to consult on what could be far-reaching changes to the way UK health professions are regulated and the AOP will ensure members’ interests are represented.
There are nine regulators governing around 32 health professions in the UK. We are used to the General Optical Council, which just deals with the optical professions. Other big ones are the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The Health and Care Professions Council is the extreme case, currently regulating around 17 professions, including orthoptists, arts therapists, paramedics, and social workers.
It is likely that reforms may be proposed to allow each regulator to be a bit more flexible in how it runs itself. Rumour has it the government is looking to rationalise these bodies so that there may be no more than three to cover the 1.44m people currently regulated by the existing nine bodies.
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