Regulation of healthcare providers

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The healthcare sector is heavily regulated and governed by legislation as diverse as that regulating administration of drugs, competition between healthcare providers, complaints about treatment given by the National Health Service (NHS), data protection, freedom of information requests, food hygiene, mental capacity of patients in consenting to treatment, procurement in supplies and regulation of professional standards of individual practitioners. There are guidelines providers are expected to adhere to, such as National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, and supervisory bodies appointed to have oversight of different aspects of healthcare provision. See Practice Note: NICE Guidance.

Regulation relating to public healthcare in England is primarily governed by the National Health Service Act 2006, as extensively amended by the Health and Care Act 2022 (HCA 2022) and the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (HSCA 2012). HSCA 2012 implemented a number of initiatives that emphasised patient choice and competition, whereas HCA 2022 embedded Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and placed greater weight on collaboration across the NHS, local government and wider partners.

Regulation of healthcare (both public and private) can be divided

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