Consultation runs: 19 March 2026 – 11 June 2026 (23:59 pm)

We’re reviewing the Personal beliefs and medical practice (2013) guidance and want to hear your views on an updated draft of the guidance. We want to hear from patients and those who support them, doctors, physician associates (PAs), anaesthesia associates (AAs), a wide range of healthcare professionals, and healthcare organisations.

You can view the updated draft guidance on our website.

You can also view the current guidance on our website.

This guidance forms part of the more detailed guidance on the professional standards. It sets out how doctors PAs, and AAs can provide good safe patient care in a way that’s consistent with their personal beliefs and values. It recognises that patients’ beliefs and values can influence their priorities and decision making when it comes to their treatment and care – and provides guidance for the professionals we regulate on how to approach this.

About this consultation

We know that personal beliefs and cultural practices can be central to the lives of many doctors, PAs, AAs, and patients. We understand that the professionals we regulate – doctors, AAs and PAs – can have personal values that can inform their day-to-day practice. And that patients' beliefs and values can influence their priorities and decision making when it comes to their treatment and care.

Personal beliefs and medical practice explains how doctors, PAs, and AAs can provide good, safe patient care, taking into consideration their personal beliefs and values as well as those of their patients. As part of this, this guidance covers the steps that need to be taken if:

  • a doctor, PA, or AA does not want to participate in or provide a procedure or treatment because of their personal beliefs – this is referred to as a conscientious objection
  • a patient refuses care or a form of treatment because of their personal beliefs
  • a patient requests care, treatment or procedures that are not primarily for medical reasons and are instead related to religious beliefs, cultural practices, or social factors.

The guidance sits alongside Good medical practice (2024), which is the core guidance on the professional standards. It sets out the principles, values, and standards of professional behaviour expected of all doctors, PAs, and AAs registered with us. 

We last published Personal beliefs and medical practice in 2013. We’ve made technical updates to the guidance since then – including in December 2024 to reflect that we had started regulating physician associates and anaesthesia associates. We’re now carrying out an in-depth review to make sure Personal beliefs and medical practice reflects developments across the UK’s healthcare systems and wider social changes, and looks ahead to the future.

How we developed the updated draft guidance

We discussed the review of this guidance with a number of stakeholders, including responsible officers, member organisations of the Race Equality Forum and the Strategic Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Forum, and medical royal colleges. These discussions have helped to shape our approach so far and we will continue to engage with these groups, and others, as we progress the work.

We also formed the Standards Guidance Advisory Forum to advise, support, and challenge us in reviewing the guidance and developing the updated version. The forum brings together members with a wealth of perspectives from across the UK. Ranging from clinical leaders and patient advocates to experts on medical ethics, the law, and equality, diversity and inclusion.

We developed the updated draft of the guidance following extensive research into how:

  • the personal beliefs of doctors, PAs, and AAs can affect the care they provide and their interactions with patients and their colleagues 
  • patients’ personal beliefs can influence their priorities and decision-making when it comes to their care.  

We’ve explored how the professionals we regulate use the current guidance and drawn on a range of data and intelligence to understand where more clarity or support might be needed.

We’ve also considered changes in the law and reflected these where appropriate in the updated draft guidance.

We have introduced new content and made some changes in the updated draft guidance. It’s important that we don’t create unrealistic or additional burdens on doctors, PAs, and AAs when we update the guidance on the professional standards. And that we avoid duplication with guidance and advice provided by other bodies and organisations. In light of this, we only seek to introduce new duties where they’re:

  • relevant to a doctor’s, PA’s, or AA’s practice and not an action for employers, educators, or government
  • actionable and can be demonstrated with evidence, eg through appraisal and revalidation
  • necessary to protect patients, maintain standards or to uphold confidence in the professions we regulate.

We took steps to make sure the updated draft guidance includes links to other professional standards guidance where relevant. We also made sure that the updates reflect more recently updated guidance, including Good medical practice (2024) and Decision making and consent (2020). The updated guidance emphasises kindness, respect, inclusion, and the importance of finding out what matters to patients.

Throughout the consultation, we’ve included the rationale behind the proposed changes and new content in the updated guidance draft.

Why we want to hear from you

It’s vital that Personal beliefs and medical practice reflects the needs and experiences of everyone it affects.

We want to hear from patients and those who support them, doctors, PAs, AAs, a wide range of healthcare professionals, and healthcare organisations.

A range of belief systems exist in the UK and personal beliefs can take many forms. They can be religious, political, philosophical or moral in nature and informed by cultural practices as well as social and spiritual factors.

We recognise that the extent to which a patient’s personal beliefs will influence their healthcare priorities can vary from patient to patient. This is also the case for the professionals we regulate – when it comes to their beliefs and the degree to which these beliefs inform their approach to their practice. The updated guidance needs to account for these variations and make sure that the rights of different groups are balanced.

It is important that we understand how the matters covered in this consultation relate to the different geographies and environments where the professionals we regulate work. We encourage individuals and organisations from all four countries of the UK to take part.

Your feedback will shape the updated guidance and help us to support doctors, PAs, and AAs to deliver good safe patient care. It will also help contribute to workplace cultures that are respectful, fair, supportive, and compassionate for all.

The consultation is open for 12 weeks, from 19 March 2026 – 11 June 2026, so please share your views with us.