Registrants and patients collaborate on future regulatory processes

Credit: Kaleidico, Unsplash

Regulatory reform in the healthcare sector has been a long time coming. Work is underway to develop a more streamlined regulatory framework, which allows regulators greater autonomy to set out the details of their regulatory procedures in legislation that they themselves publish is broadly welcomed.

The GMC has recently transitioned to being a multi professional regulator, taking on responsibility for physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs). Whilst this has presented challenges, it also provides opportunities in terms of regulatory reform, with the GMC the first of the health regulators to take on board some of the new wider reforms.

Although reforms will ultimately provide regulators with greater autonomy to set ‘rules’ they will be required to consult on these, reenforcing the need to ensure that such rules are informed from the outset by those who will be impacted by them. It is in this context, that the GMC identified a need to bring new and existing registrants and patients together to help shape future regulatory processes. They wanted to go further than traditional engagement by exploring whether they could draw on the principles of co-production and collaborate more intensively with their audiences to produce policies, processes and communications. 

To help them do this, back in 2024 Community Research was commissioned to establish a panel of 30 members of the public, doctors, PAs and AAs. This represented a new approach for the GMC exploring how different groups could collaborate with each other and engage with complex subject matter in a co-productive way over an extended period. Panel members participated in four engagement sessions between April 2024 and March 2025. These included a mix of face to face and online workshops, and online forums.

Having an ongoing dialogue with the same group of participants gave the GMC fresh, external perspectives on some of the more complex areas of their work. The panel feedback had the most impact on how the GMC communicates what it does, but it also made a difference to discussions around policy and processes.

Because this was a new approach for the GMC, they have taken time to reflect on what worked well and what could improve for future engagement activities. The full findings are worth a read and can be found here.

These reflections are also feeding into the design and implementation of new, refreshed panel of patients and registrants. We’re currently working with the GMC team in a planning phase, with the intention to launch in Spring 2026.