PSA updates right-touch regulation framework to address modern challenges in fitness to practise

The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has released the 2025 edition of its Right-touch regulation framework, marking a significant evolution in how health and social care regulators are encouraged to approach public protection, professional accountability, and fitness to practise. This updated version responds to the increasingly complex landscape of regulation, shaped by rising public expectations, digital transformation, and the need for more agile, collaborative systems.

Originally published in 2010 and last revised in 2015, Right-touch regulation is a principles-based model that guides regulators in determining when and how to intervene. The 2025 update reaffirms the five foundational principles—proportionality, consistency, targeting, transparency, and accountability—and adds a sixth: agility. This addition reflects the growing need for regulators to anticipate change and respond swiftly to emerging risks and opportunities.

Key enhancements in the 2025 framework include:

• Agility as a core principle, encouraging regulators to adapt to evolving contexts, technologies, and workforce dynamics.
• Greater emphasis on collaboration, both between regulators and with stakeholders, to ensure joined-up responses to systemic challenges.
• Integration of data and evidence, promoting smarter, risk-based decision-making in fitness to practise and other regulatory functions.
• Recognition of lived experience, urging regulators to consider the perspectives of professionals and service users when designing and applying regulatory interventions.

The PSA notes that the challenges facing regulators today—such as workforce shortages, rising demand, and digital disruption—require more than traditional rule enforcement. Instead, the framework advocates for right-touch thinking, where regulation is not the default response, but one of several tools used to protect the public. This approach is particularly relevant to fitness to practise proceedings, which must balance public safety with fairness, proportionality, and support for professional development.

The updated guidance also encourages regulators to reflect on their own culture and values, ensuring that their actions align with the principles of good regulation. It calls for a shift from reactive enforcement to proactive improvement, where regulators help shape safer, more effective systems through leadership and innovation.

By embedding agility, collaboration, and evidence-based practice into its core, Right-touch regulation 2025 offers a refreshed blueprint for regulators navigating the complexities of modern health and social care. It reinforces the importance of fitness to practise as a dynamic process—one that must evolve alongside the professions it governs and the public it serves.

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