A Cabinet Office director has been appointed to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC’s) senior leadership team to help transform its culture.
Ravi Chand will take up the position of executive director of people and culture from 7 July at the nursing regulator.
In his new role, Mr Chand will provide strategic leadership on people, culture and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and will ensure the NMC takes forward the recommendations of a scathing independent culture review and deliver its Culture Transformation Plan.
Mr Chand joins the NMC from the Cabinet Office, where he is the director for the civil service people and places directorate.
The NMC said Mr Chand would be tasked with ‘delivering a fit-for-purpose’ nursing regulator through the ‘development of an inclusive, psychologically safe and values-driven environment’.
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It added that he would play a ‘pivotal role’ in shaping and delivering the regulator’s strategy and work to ensure the findings and recommendations of the independent culture review were taken forward.
The review published in July 2024 revealed serious concerns about the regulator, including a ‘toxic culture’ of bullying, harassment and racism.
The NMC has since committed to transforming its culture and has released a plan to do so, and pledged to recruit several new leadership positions to help deliver it.
Mr Chand said: ‘This opportunity allows me to contribute to an organisation that plays such a pivotal role in ensuring the highest standards of care and professionalism in healthcare.
‘I am eager to collaborate with dedicated professionals who are committed to nurturing talent and fostering an inclusive environment.’
He added: ‘Together, we will continue to empower our nurses, midwives and nursing associates, whose unwavering dedication makes a profound impact on individuals and communities across the nation.
‘It’s an exciting chapter, and I look forward to driving positive change and innovation in the healthcare sector.’
Before the Cabinet Office, Mr Chand was the chief people officer at the Department for International Development where he held responsibility for people, operations, IT and systems, estates and change.
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He has also worked as the HR director at HM Revenue and Customs and the director responsible for capability, talent and diversity at the Home Office and has served as a police officer.
Mr Chand was awarded a CBE in 2011 and QPM in 2002 for distinguished service, and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Interim chief executive and registrar Paul Rees said the new role at the nursing regulator was ‘pivotal’ in ‘accelerating the turnaround of the NMC’.
‘I am excited by the track record that Ravi brings in leading major people, culture and diversity initiatives that strengthen public organisations,’ he said.
‘I know Ravi will make a significant impact on the NMC as we work to deliver culture change and improve the way we regulate.
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‘We are well underway, with positive signs that our efforts are leading to change.
‘But there is a huge amount still to do – Ravi’s appointment will strengthen our leadership capability to deliver on our commitments to our people, the public we serve and the professionals on the register.’
An NMC Council meeting yesterday provided an update on the nursing regulator’s latest fitness to practise (FtP) caseload and it was recognised that while some progress had been made, there was still a ‘long way to go’.
