PSA statement on hate crime and hate speech
Today, 25h September 2025, PSA have released the following statement in regard to hate crime and hate speech.
We are aware of increasing concern from some groups about what is acceptable among health and care practitioners in relation to expressing opinions about current topical issues and global events. Examples of these are the current conflict in the Middle East, debates about UK immigration, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender.
We all have the right to personal beliefs and political opinions. The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) affirms that while preserving freedom of speech is important, hate crime and hate speech are unequivocally unacceptable. Such behaviours undermine professional standards and erode public confidence in healthcare practitioners.
We expect the regulators and Accredited Registers (ARs) we oversee to review individual cases of alleged hate crime, hate speech and discrimination in accordance with their standards and fitness to practise processes, and to take appropriate action when it is found. We also expect them to recognise the impact this behaviour can have on professionals, when they experience or witness hate crime, hate speech or discrimination in the workplace and be proactive in identifying ways to support registrants.
Regulators and ARs should have due regard to the relevant legal frameworks, including the Online Safety Act 2023. They should be aware of the expectations that the public, and the law, may have of health and care professionals when considering cases involving freedom of expression and hate speech. They should also make sure to consider whether registrant behaviour is likely to uphold public confidence.
The PSA will continue to monitor the actions of regulators and ARs in this area through our oversight powers. Where we are not satisfied that final panel decisions by the regulators are sufficient to protect the public, which includes upholding public confidence in the profession and maintaining professional standards, we will consider exercising our powers to appeal the outcomes of those cases to the courts. We do not have this power in relation to the ARs.
Hate crime, hate speech and discrimination have no place in our health and care systems, or in our wider society.
