Attending to the Ethical Orientation of Health and Care Regulators: The Pursuit of Coherence Between Care Quality, Professionalism and Regulation in the UK

Abstract

This paper offers an empirically informed ethical analysis of the recent history of health and social care regulation in the UK focused especially on the contributions made by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care. The paper is largely organised around two broad questions: First, in what respects can regulation support, mobilise and model professionalism and professional identity? Second, nested within this, given that regulation can support the professional identities of diverse practitioners can it, at the same time, help enable coordination across, and integration of, health and social care activities? These concerns, we suggest, highlight the value of viewing professional regulation in the context of the broader collaborative zeitgeist in health and care and as shaping the ethical landscape for professionals. We thereby make a case for the value of attending to the ethical orientation of professional regulation.