What Is Probity in Medicine and Healthcare?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 15 November 2026

What does probity mean in medicine and healthcare?

Probity in medicine and healthcare means being honest, trustworthy and acting with integrity in every part of professional life, from patient records and claims about your qualifications to money, declarations and dealings with your regulator. It is the standard that lets patients, colleagues and the public trust what a healthcare professional says, writes and signs.

The word applies to doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, pharmacists and every other registered profession, in NHS and private work alike. It is separate from clinical skill. A professional can be safe and capable at the bedside and still fall short on probity through a false timesheet, an altered note or an interest not declared.

Probity has three parts that run together:

• Honesty: what you say, write and sign is true, and you do not leave out what others need to know.
• Trustworthiness: patients, employers and colleagues can rely on you, including when no one is checking.
• Integrity: you do not let money, gifts, relationships or your own interests steer your decisions.

This page answers the general question for every profession. If you are a doctor, our guide to probity in medicine and the GMC goes further into Good medical practice and a GMC probity investigation.

What are examples of probity in practice?

A “probity issue” is any point where honesty or integrity is tested in daily work. Five areas come up across every register.

• Records. Notes, charts and reports are accurate and made at the time, and any later entry is dated and marked as late. NMC Code 10.3 asks nurses and midwives to complete records “accurately and without any falsification”, and HCPC standard 10.1 asks for “full, clear and accurate records”.
• Claims about yourself. A CV, job application, locum profile, reference request or registration form states your experience, qualifications and role as they are. The GMC says doctors must “always be honest about your experience, qualifications, and current role”, and HCPC standard 9.2 says the same of experience, qualifications and skills.
• Money. Timesheets, expense claims, sick pay, fees to patients and claims to an NHS body or insurer are true. The GMC asks for honesty in “financial and commercial dealings”, and NMC Code 21.3 asks nurses and midwives to act with honesty and integrity in any financial dealings.
• Declarations. You tell your regulator and employer what they need to know: a caution, a charge, a conviction, a finding by another regulator or a restriction on your practice. Each regulator sets this duty out in its standards (see the table below).
• Conflicts of interest. Gifts, hospitality, referrals, business links and treating people close to you are declared and kept away from your clinical judgement. HCPC standard 9.4 asks you to declare issues that might create conflicts of interest, and GDC standard 1.7.5 asks dental professionals to refuse gifts, payment or hospitality that could affect, or appear to affect, their judgement.

What do the regulators’ standards say about probity?

Each regulator sets out honesty and integrity in its own words. The table names the standard and the part that applies.

Regulator	Standard	What it says
GMC (doctors)	Good medical practice, Domain 4: Trust and professionalism	Headings include “Acting with honesty and integrity”, “Managing conflicts of interest” and “Cooperating with legal and regulatory requirements”. Information you communicate must be “accurate, not false or misleading”.
NMC (nurses, midwives, nursing associates)	The Code, sections 20, 21 and 23, under the theme “Promote professionalism and trust”	20.2: “act with honesty and integrity at all times”. 21.3: honesty and integrity in financial dealings. 23.2: tell the NMC and employers as soon as you can about any caution or charge.
HCPC (health and care professions)	Standards of conduct, performance and ethics (effective from 1 September 2024), standard 9: “Be honest and trustworthy”	9.1 to 9.6 cover conduct that justifies the public’s trust, honesty about experience and skills, accurate promotion, conflicts of interest, telling the HCPC about cautions and charges, and cooperating with investigations.
GDC (dental team)	Standards for the Dental Team, principle 1 (standards 1.3 and 1.7) and principle 9	1.3: “You must be honest and act with integrity”. 9.1: conduct “both at work and in your personal life” justifies patients’ trust. 9.4: give “full and truthful information” to any relevant inquiry.
GPhC (pharmacy professionals)	Standards for pharmacy professionals, standards 5 and 6	Standard 6, “Behave in a professional manner”: be “trustworthy and act with honesty and integrity”. Standard 5: declare any personal or professional interests and manage them professionally.

What is a probity concern, and what happens next?

A probity concern is an allegation that a professional was dishonest or did not act with integrity: a false record, a misleading application, a claim for money not owed, an interest not declared, or a caution or charge not reported. It can reach the regulator from an employer or NHS body, a patient, a colleague, the police, or from the professional’s own declaration.

How dishonesty is judged. The NMC’s guidance on dishonesty charges (FtP-2a-iii) describes two steps. First, the panel decides what the professional “knew and believed about the facts at the time”. Second, it decides whether the conduct was dishonest “by the standards of ordinary people”. Your own view of whether it was dishonest is not part of the test. Our guide to dishonesty in healthcare sets it out with the case behind it.

Not every concern is equal. The NMC says “not all dishonesty is equally serious”. It treats dishonesty that could put the public at risk as very serious, and a pattern of incidents as more likely to amount to misconduct. Its examples of single incidents unlikely to amount to misconduct on their own include a one-off dishonest act purely in private life, with no link to practice, and a false claim that a clinical task was done which the professional admits and puts right before it has any effect.

The question the regulator asks is whether your fitness to practise is impaired now. That turns on what happened, whether it could be repeated, and what you have done since: your honesty during the investigation, your insight and your remediation.

First steps if you receive a probity concern:

1. Take advice from your defence organisation, indemnity provider or union before you reply to your regulator or employer.
2. Check every date and fact in your reply against the documents.
3. Keep every record, email and message; deleting anything can become a second concern.
4. Start remediation that matches the concern, with a written reflection.

Nurses and midwives can read more in our guide to an NMC dishonesty allegation.

How do you show probity, and which CPD course fits?

After a concern, or for planned CPD, a course gives structured learning and a certificate; your reflection shows what you took from it.

• Probity for Healthcare Professionals – £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10), 2 CPD hours. Our probity course runs in six sections: an overview of probity, why probity matters, the core aspects of professional probity, regulatory expectations and standards, insight, reflection and remediation, and a closing assessment. Each section has an interactive exercise, and a reflection template comes with it. It fits a concern about records, claims about yourself, declarations or general honesty, and CPD on probity for any register.
• Financial Integrity and Professionalism for Healthcare Professionals – £79 (£50 with Bulk Buy 10), 2 CPD hours. It fits a concern about money: timesheets, claims, fees, gifts or a conflict of interest with a financial side.

The certificate records the course title, CPD hours and date. Your reflection, in your own words, names the standard you fell short of, the effect on trust, and what you have changed. Send nothing to a regulator until your adviser has read both. If you are an HCPC registrant, our guide is an HCPC probity course enough for an honesty concern? matches the course to the HCPC process.

Book now: our probity course

Frequently Asked Questions