Annual statistical release
State of UK Fitness to Practise
2026 edition — data to 22 September 2026
Aggregate statistics from MedicWatch’s indexed corpus of published UK healthcare regulator fitness-to-practise determinations: counts by outcome, by reason category, by profession group, by source regulator, and by decision year. The figures describe the indexed corpus of published determinations, not all fitness-to-practise activity or all misconduct in UK healthcare.
Next edition: first week of January 2027. Figures refresh as new determinations are indexed; the data-to date above states what this edition currently covers.
3290
published determinations in the indexed corpus§
693
published erasure and voluntary-erasure determinations analysed§
22 September 2026
latest decision date in the corpus§
24 September 2026
corpus last updated§
Cite this: https://medicwatch.co.uk/reports/fitness-to-practise#dataset-summary · download the underlying data (CSV).
Published determinations by outcome§
| Outcome | Determinations | Browse |
|---|---|---|
| Erasure — struck off the register§ | 596 | View decisions |
| Voluntary erasure accepted — voluntary removal from the register§ | 97 | |
| Suspension — suspended from practice§ | 351 | View decisions |
| Indefinite suspension — suspended indefinitely§ | 161 | |
| Conditions on practice — practising with restrictions§ | 124 | View decisions |
| Warning — formally warned§ | 79 | View decisions |
| Undertakings — undertakings agreed with the regulator§ | 0 | View decisions |
Counts are of published determinations in the indexed corpus as at the data-to date above. A determination records one regulator decision; a practitioner can appear in more than one determination.
Published practitioner profiles by profession group§
Erasure determinations by reason category§
MedicWatch applies a fixed taxonomy to the regulator-described charges, findings, and summaries of the 693 published erasure and voluntary-erasure determinations in the indexed corpus. A determination can match more than one category, so counts sum to more than the denominator and percentages to more than 100%.
| Category | Determinations | Share of 693 |
|---|---|---|
| Records, paperwork, and administration§ | 357 | 51.5% |
| Clinical care and competence§ | 310 | 44.7% |
| Workplace conduct and colleagues§ | 208 | 30% |
| Patient safety and safeguarding§ | 191 | 27.6% |
| Criminal conviction or caution§ | 188 | 27.1% |
| Dishonesty and false records§ | 186 | 26.8% |
| Sexual misconduct and boundaries§ | 146 | 21.1% |
| Medicines, prescribing, and drugs§ | 139 | 20.1% |
| Communication, consent, and dignity§ | 131 | 18.9% |
| Health, alcohol, or substance concerns§ | 130 | 18.8% |
| Non-engagement with the regulator§ | 39 | 5.6% |
| Other or unclear§ | 14 | 2% |
Full analysis with source-backed examples: why UK healthcare practitioners are struck off · download this table as CSV.
Erasure determinations by profession group§
Erasure determinations by decision year§
Years reflect the decision date on the published determination. Earlier years are only as complete as the regulators’ own published archives.
How to cite this release§
Suggested attribution line:
MedicWatch, State of UK Fitness to Practise, 2026 edition (data to 22 September 2026). https://medicwatch.co.uk/reports/fitness-to-practise
- Always state the edition and the data-to date shown at the top of this page. The figures refresh as new determinations are indexed, so the date fixes what a citation covered.
- Link the canonical URL
https://medicwatch.co.uk/reports/fitness-to-practise. - To cite a single figure, use the stable anchor marked with a § next to it — for example
https://medicwatch.co.uk/reports/fitness-to-practise#outcome-erasure. Anchors are stable across editions. - Describe the figures as “MedicWatch analysis of its indexed corpus of published UK healthcare regulator determinations”, not as a measure of all UK healthcare misconduct or of all regulator activity.
- The aggregate reason-category table is available as a CSV download.
Methodology§
Data sources
The corpus is built from publicly published fitness-to-practise determinations of three UK healthcare regulators’ hearing services: the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS, hearing GMC referrals concerning doctors, physician associates, and anaesthesia associates), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and the Dental Professionals Hearings Service (DPHS, hearing GDC referrals). See sources & methodology for how each document is processed.
What is counted
Each unit is one published determination indexed by MedicWatch and joined to a published practitioner profile. Counts are of determinations, not practitioners — a practitioner can have more than one determination. The reason-category analysis covers erasure and voluntary-erasure determinations only; a determination can match more than one category. The outcome table shows the principal sanction outcomes; other recorded outcome values (interim orders, restorations, appeals, and others) are not tabulated in this release.
Known limitations
The corpus is updated by periodic review runs, so decisions the regulators published very recently may not yet be indexed. The data-to date and the last-verified date at the top of this page state exactly what the figures cover. These are counts of MedicWatch’s indexed corpus of published determinations — not a measure of all fitness-to-practise activity, of all referrals or complaints, or of all misconduct in UK healthcare. Source regulators remove some determinations after their own publication windows; MedicWatch retains the record, so counts here can exceed what is currently visible on regulator sites.
Corrections
If you believe a figure or an underlying record is wrong, see corrections and takedowns. Corrections to underlying records flow into these aggregates at the next refresh.