The UK’s health and social care regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), have committed to working together on new artificial intelligence (AI) regulations that will apply across all health and social care settings.
In a joint ‘statement of intent’ issued today, the 10 health and social care regulators, together with the healthcare super regulator the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA), pledged to collaborate on a new set of principles to guide how they will regulate the use of AI by their registrants.
“Artificial intelligence has the potential to help shape the future of health and care”
Paul Rees
The statement said that the health and social care sector needed “a system-wide approach” to AI.
It added that professional regulators could make “an important contribution” towards “ensuring AI is used in ways that maintain public confidence and uphold the fundamental standards that protect patients, service users and the public”.
The statement was issued a week following the publication of a report from a national commission into the regulation of AI in healthcare.
This commission was set up by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in September 2025 in light of the increasing role that AI is expected to play in healthcare as mapped out in the NHS 10-year plan.
National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare: Recommendations for a future regulatory framework, published on 10 September, called for regulation of AI in healthcare to be “more proportionate, lifecycle-based and system-wide”.
NMC chief executive Paul Rees was one of the signatories to the joint statement of intent on the regulation of AI in healthcare.
He said: “Artificial intelligence has the potential to help shape the future of health and care – improving people’s experiences and outcomes when professionals are supported to use the technology confidently, safely and fairly.
“We look forward to working with the Professional Standards Authority to develop its shared principles for the future of AI in health and care practice.
“By working together, regulators can help create the conditions for AI to be used safely, equitably and ambitiously, unlocking real benefits for practitioners and the people in their care – while keeping public protection at the heart of progress.”
PSA chair Caroline Corby said: “Confidence by the public and professionals in the benefits of AI rests on appropriate safeguards, accountability and consistency in expectations about how it is used.
“By working together, we can take a preventative approach to regulation that supports innovation while maintaining professional standards.”
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