NMC admits 12-year failure in nurses’ health and character checks

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has failed to ‘consistently’ assess health and character concerns of those on its register – such as those with a criminal record for a serious offence or with an unmanaged health condition – for more than a decade, it has admitted.

More than 400 nursing and midwifery professionals are being contacted by the regulator today to provide further information for a more detailed assessment, and it is estimated that up to 15 registrants should be removed.

The situation stemmed from a member of staff who raised concerns about the ‘historical failure’ of the regulator to follow the full process for investigating health and character concerns declared as part of the registration and revalidation process.

It was discovered that the full process to assess health and character concerns had not been ‘consistently’ followed for the last 12 years.

This means that professionals with a previous criminal record or unmanaged health condition could potentially have been able to continue practicing inappropriately.

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As soon as the concern was raised in February, a ‘rapid and thorough review’ of the cases was commissioned, the NMC said.

The new NMC leadership team, put together in the last year by chief executive and registrar Paul Rees, brought in a team of paralegals who worked alongside the staff to review all 18,060 applications from the 12-year period.

It determined that no further action is required in 17,639 cases (98%).

And it found that that up to 15 nursing or midwifery professionals should be removed from the nursing and midwifery register of 867,935 (0.002%).

However, the NMC believes that those members may not be working as nursing or midwifery professionals as employers carry out their own pre-employment checks, which may include DBS checks, reference checks, identity verification, and assessment of suitability for the role.

The NMC will make recommendation for their removal to an independent panel.

For a nursing or midwifery professional to join or remain on the nursing and midwifery register, they must declare any health or character issues that may prevent them being able to practise safely and effectively. For example, these issues could include a criminal record for a serious offence, or an unmanaged health condition.

Declarations are first considered by a specialist team, and all cases of concern should be referred to an internally appointed assistant registrar for a decision.

The NMC assesses declarations on a case-by-case basis to determine whether there is a risk to the public that it needs to act on, considering factors such as the applicant’s age when the offence took place, how long ago it took place, whether it was an isolated incident, and whether the incident was linked to nursing or midwifery practice.

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It has been found that for a period of up to 12 years, applications which included health and character declarations were reviewed by the specialist team but not consistently referred to an assistant registrar.

NMC chief executive Mr Rees issued an apology, stating the failing was ‘completely and utterly unacceptable’.

‘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.’

Today’s news comes after an independent review revealed serious concerns about the regulator, including a ‘toxic culture’ of bullying, harassment and racism in 2024.

Mr Rees recognised that the NMC has ‘faced a challenging period for a number of years, culminating in the publication of the Independent Culture Review’.

‘The NMC is under new leadership and we’re determined to turn around this organisation once and for all, through a three-year transformation programme,’ he said.

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‘We’re turning over all the stones and dealing with the issues as they emerge.

‘We know that the NMC has not met the high standards expected of it in past years, so we’re now building a new NMC, which is striving to become the strong and independent regulator needed to protect the public, maintain confidence in the nursing and midwifery professions and uphold the standards of the professions.’

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