Healthcare regulators such as the Care Quality Commission, Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, General Medical Council and other such organisations, seem to be oblivious that inadvertently promote discrimination and inequality; they repeatedly use methods which cause intimidation and harassment to healthcare professionals and patients; they can also be criticised of systematically ignoring some fundamental human rights e.g. the right to choose what kind of care we wish to receive, their duty to protect the public from harm and fail to place the 'patient' at the heart of many of their decisions (they never ask their opinion). This is 'the elephant in the room'; it is an unacceptable practice reminiscent of a "nanny state", which deserves an open debate and an examination of its objectives and its very methods.