FtP screening caseload at lowest level in five years, says NMC

The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) caseload for fitness to practise (FtP) referrals at screening – the initial stage of the process – has fallen to its lowest level in five years, it has announced.

New data from the nursing regulator found that the number of FtP referrals at the initial assessment stage of the process has dipped below 2,000 for the first time since 2020.

The FtP caseload stood at 1,983 referrals at the end of July. There had been 633 new concerns referred to the NMC in the same month.

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When asked for further FtP data for other stages of the process, the NMC said a wider update would be available in due course.

The NMC’s progress comes after a raft of concerns have been raised around its FtP process – including a report from the super-regulator in June which found the organisation had failed to meet a wave of standards, including within FtP.

Lesley Maslen, NMC executive director of professional regulation, said: ‘The news that our caseload at screening has fallen to its lowest level in five years illustrates the ongoing momentum of our plan for fitness to practise.

‘It shows our commitment to making more timely decisions so that people spend less time in our processes, either because we resolve the concern early or progress it to a full investigation more rapidly.’

She added: ‘”We will build on this progress, working not only to improve timeliness but also people’s experience of fitness to practise.

‘We are working to make our processes more compassionate, supportive and straightforward.

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‘This is a cornerstone of wider efforts to build a new NMC that is a fair, effective and trusted regulator.’

A council meeting in May heard how there was still a ‘long way to go’ on improving the NMC FtP caseload and process, despite a gradual decline in the nursing regulator’s FtP caseload since the start of this year.

In April, the Ambitious for Change research programme found inconsistencies in the NMC’s FtP processes in how the regulator handled cases involving Black professionals compared to White professionals, and male professionals compared to females. The regulator subsequently pledged to ‘eliminate ethnicity and gender disparities in FtP processes by 2030’.

In July 2024, an independent review of the NMC’s culture – led by former public prosecutor Nazir Afzal, with Rise Associates – identified a ‘dangerously toxic culture’ in which bullying, racism and burnout were putting nurses and the public at risk.

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And last month it was revealed that independent investigations focused on FtP cases raised by a NMC whistleblower and around the regulator’s handling of whistleblowing itself have been delayed and recommissioned.