Paul ReesRegulator

Chief Executive and Registrar

Nursing and Midwifery Council is based in Cities of London and Westminster (London)

Cited in UK press coverage of health & social care

2 citations

Across 1 topic, first on 27 Aug 2026.

Biography

Paul Rees MBE is the Chief Executive and Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the statutory regulator for nursing and midwifery professions across the UK, which oversees more than 800,000 registered professionals. He joined the NMC on 20 January 2025 in an interim capacity before being confirmed as permanent Chief Executive on 17 July 2025 following an open external recruitment process. Prior to the NMC, Rees served as Chief Executive of the National Pharmacy Association, and before that led the Royal College of Psychiatrists and held an executive director role at the Royal College of General Practitioners. He is known publicly for driving cultural transformation at the NMC following a damning independent review that found racism, bullying, and toxicity at every level of the regulator, and has spoken in national media about failures in the NMC's handling of cases including that of Lucy Letby. In 2022 he was awarded an MBE for services to mental health and equality, diversity and inclusion, and in 2025 was named Inclusive Leader of the Year at the National B.A.M.E Health & Care Awards.

References

1.Paul Rees MBE to continue leading NMC as permanent Chief Executive and Registrar – NMC — Confirms permanent appointment as Chief Executive and Registrar from 17 July 2025, interim start date of 20 January 2025, and publication of the Culture Transformation Plan within eight weeks.
2.Paul Rees confirmed as permanent NMC chief executive – Nursing Times — Confirms prior roles at NPA, Royal College of Psychiatrists, and RCGP; MBE awarded 2022 for services to mental health and EDI.
3.NMC Chief Executive, Paul Rees MBE, named Inclusive Leader of the Year – NMC — Confirms 2025 B.A.M.E Health & Care Awards win and Paul Rees's own statement about being the first Black chief executive of a medical royal college, a national community pharmacy body, and a healthcare worker regulator.
4.Paul Rees appointed as permanent NMC chief executive and registrar – Nursing in Practice

Expertise

Cited on

Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

Professional regulation
Nursing and midwifery workforce
Equality, diversity and inclusion in health
Organisational culture transformation
Fitness to practise reform
Healthcare regulator governance

Notable achievements

Appointed permanent Chief Executive and Registrar of the NMC on 17 July 2025, following open external recruitment, after joining in an interim capacity in January 2025. Source ↗
Published a comprehensive three-year Culture Transformation Plan within eight weeks of joining the NMC, informed by hundreds of staff at town hall events. Source ↗
Named Inclusive Leader of the Year at the 2025 National B.A.M.E Health & Care Awards for his track record in leading organisations through culture transformation. Source ↗
Awarded an MBE in 2022 for services to mental health and equality, diversity and inclusion. Source ↗
Described as the first Black chief executive of a medical royal college (Royal College of Psychiatrists), the first Black chief executive of a national community pharmacy body (NPA), and the first Black chief executive of a UK healthcare worker regulator (NMC).

What they’ve said

“The high-growth era of international recruitment appears to be ending.”
Chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Rising racism blamed for collapse in number of foreign nurses coming to UK ↗
“I would like to apologise for the fact that for a period of 12 years we failed to ensure that all health and character declarations were assessed in line with our full process. This is completely and utterly unacceptable”
Chief Executive, Nursing and Midwifery Council · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · UK nurses and midwives who should have been banned have worked for last 12 years ↗

Source references

Rising racism blamed for collapse in number of foreign nurses coming to UKtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
UK nurses and midwives who should have been banned have worked for last 12 yearstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.

Named officials of regulators, arms-length bodies and public agencies such as the CQC, NHS England or a local authority association. Citations are counted by an automated scan of UK press coverage and may be incomplete. Roles, biographies and contact details are researched and human-reviewed before they appear here; anything not yet reviewed is simply absent rather than shown unverified. See the methodology for how this page is built, or email contact@bridgeheadcommunications.com to correct anything on it.