Government ‘understands importance’ of protecting the ‘nurse’ title
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has assured that the government ‘understands the importance’ of protecting the ‘nurse’ title and will take action to ensure it is a criminal offence to misuse the title during this Parliament.
It comes after ministers were urged to use the King’s Speech today to push forward with plans to protect the title in law.
While it was not included in today’s speech – which set out the government’s plans for the coming year, including an ‘NHS Modernisation Bill’ – the government is understood to be planning for the nurse title to be protected through reforms to professional regulation, using secondary legislation and not a new Bill.
It has been one year since the government pledged to introduce new legislation to crackdown on those wrongly using the title and misleading the public.
On International Nurses Day on Tuesday, Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler, urged the government to press ahead and adopt her bill to protect the nurse title within the King’s Speech.
Nurse leaders have been campaigning for the title to be protected for several years under the #ProtectNurse movement, and Ms Butler had been working to introduce a 10-minute rule bill to see the nurse title protected last year.
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Currently anyone can use the title ‘nurse’ as it is the title of ‘registered nurse’ that is protected in law. This means that those who do not have a nursing qualification or who have been convicted or struck off the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register can still call themselves a ‘nurse’.
In a comment for Nursing in Practice, the DHSC assured that the government still planned to make it a criminal offence for someone to call themselves a nurse unless they are properly registered with the NMC.
A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘This government understands the importance of protecting the ‘nurse’ title.
‘It should go without saying, that when someone calls themself a nurse, they actually are one.’
They added: ‘We are taking decisive action to crack down on unqualified individuals masquerading as professionals, making it a criminal offence to misuse the title during this Parliament.’
Before introducing the legislation, the government will ask for views on which roles should still be allowed to use the word ‘nurse’ in their job title, such as dental or veterinary nurses, through a public consultation.
As the government plans to introduce the protection through secondary legislation and not a new Bill, it is understood that it did not need to be included in today’s speech.
The NHS Modernisation Bill
The NHS Modernisation Bill, set out today in the King’s Speech, outlines plans to introduce legislation to reform how the NHS is led and managed.
It includes proposed reforms such as transferring primary care commissioning to ICBs, the abolition of NHS England (NHSE) and the introduction of a single patient record.
In his statement in the House of Lords, the King said that ministers ‘will push forward with significant reforms to the National Health Service’.
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Briefing documents which followed the speech said: ‘The NHS Modernisation Bill is integral to the government’s plans to improve care for patients through investment and modernisation.
‘It will enhance patient safety and experience through a new single patient record, enabling joined up, proactive care and empowering patients.
‘The Bill puts power and resources in the hands of frontline NHS organisations by abolishing NHS England and stripping back national bureaucracy.’
QICN’s chief executive Steph Lawrence said: ‘ Today’s King’s Speech brings the government closer to delivering its 10 Year Health Plan. But the promised shift from hospital to community, and from sickness to prevention, will not happen without a strong community nursing workforce.
‘England has lost almost half of its district nurses in the last decade. There are now only three district nurses for every five there were in 2009.
‘That means more ‘care not done’, a greater risk to patient safety, and a serious setback to the government’s ambition to move more care closer to home.
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‘If ministers want this plan to succeed, they must invest in community nursing now. That means publishing a fully funded, evidence-based 10 Year Workforce Plan, establishing a national plan to measure capacity and demand in community services, and backing training routes, including an expansion of level 7 apprenticeships.
‘Effective SEND reform also depends on strong community services around children, young people and families.
‘School nurses, health visitors and children’s community nurses are central to early intervention and joined-up support, and these reforms must be matched by sustained investment in the workforce and local services.’
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