Paul Rees MBE to continue leading NMC as permanent Chief Executive and Registrar

Paul joined the NMC on 20 January 2025 in an interim capacity, to start turning around the NMC’s culture and regulatory performance. He brought a wealth of experience in improving performance as a leader in health and care – including an invaluable track record of transforming culture at other organisations.

By the end of March, just over eight weeks into Paul’s leadership, the regulator had published its comprehensive, three-year Culture Transformation Plan – informed by hundreds of members of NMC staff who attended ‘town hall’ events with Paul.

Already under this plan, the NMC has:

• Signed the UNISON Anti-Racism Charter;
• Set ambitious new equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) targets to eliminate bias from its regulatory processes and drive fairness for its staff;
• Started taking important steps to reduce its ethnicity pay gap, such as ensuring ethnically diverse shortlists where there are Black, Asian and ethnic minority candidates who meet the minimum requirement;
• Regeared its flagship mentoring programme to ensure that 80 percent of participants are Black, Asian and ethnic minority;
• Started delivering coaching to all managers on embedding EDI, values-based decision making, ensuring psychological safety and enjoying work; and to senior managers on strong and effective leadership;
• Consulted with staff on a new set of values.

Also under Paul’s leadership, the NMC has been progressing at pace with regulatory improvements that ensure it focuses on its core purpose of protecting the public. As part of this, the NMC has made significant strides with its Fitness to Practise (FtP) Plan.

In July 2023, the rolling average for completing FtP cases within 15 months stood at 60.8 percent. By June 2025, this had risen to 70.4 percent.

Paul’s permanent appointment means he will lead a refreshed Executive Team – strengthening leadership at the highest level of the organisation as it works through the recovery phase of its new corporate plan.

In the past few weeks, Ravi Chand CBE has started as Executive Director of People and Culture, and Julia Corkey has joined as Executive Director of Communications and Engagement. Emma Westcott has also been confirmed as the permanent Executive Director of Strategy and Insight, having served in an interim capacity.

Ron Barclay-Smith, Chair of the Council, said:

“Since joining the NMC, Paul has accelerated the organisation’s journey to becoming a fit-for-the-future regulator. He has wasted no time in getting transformation started, and he was the outstanding candidate to lead the organisation forward.

“I am confident that under Paul’s ongoing leadership, the NMC will continue to become a better, more inclusive place to work, with a clear focus on our core regulatory functions. In turn, this will put the organisation in a better place to deliver on its purpose of public protection.”

Paul Rees MBE, Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“I am incredibly proud to be asked to continue leading the NMC’s transformation. We are already under way – through our Culture Transformation Plan, we are investing in our people in a way the organisation hasn’t before. Our Fitness to Practise Plan continues to deliver meaningful improvements and we have set out an ambitious roadmap to modernise the Code and revalidation process. We are fostering a culture of inclusion and improved regulatory performance which will benefit the professionals on the register and the public we serve.

“I am committed to seeing through the process of building a better NMC, driven by a stronger, more connected culture. I look forward to continuing to work with the NMC’s people, partners, professionals and the public to deliver on this promise.”

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