NMC to focus 'relentlessly' on culture change through new strategic plan

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched a strategic plan for 2025-2027, outlining five priority areas aimed at strengthening public trust, improving regulatory performance, and embedding an inclusive culture within the organisation.

Spanning the next 18 months, the strategy is especially focused on tackling disparities in fitness to practise (FtP) outcomes, particularly those based on ethnicity and gender.

The plan builds on the NMC’s Culture Transformation Plan and FtP Plan, already underway, and is underpinned by the NMC’s equality diversity and inclusion (EDI) targets that the regulator introduced in June.

The NMC’s direction is organised around five newly defined organisational values: Integrity, Fairness, Respect, Equity, and Effectiveness – designed to guide both regulatory work and internal culture.

These new values were first reported on by Nursing in Practice, following an exclusive interview with NMC chief executive and registrar, Paul Rees, earlier this month.

The NMC strategy is based around five areas:

Ensuring trust in professionals – The NMC plans to review and improve its regulatory tools to better safeguard the public while supporting nurses, midwives and nursing associates in their practice.
Improving FtP – A key focus will be making FtP decisions more timely, fair and consistent, with an emphasis on safeguarding, equity and clinical input. Planned changes also follow the Ambitious for Change research programme that found inconsistencies in the NMC’s FtP processes.
Culture transformation – The NMC is working to create a fairer, safer and more inclusive working environment, building on the progress of a three-year Culture Transformation Plan that was launched in March.
Strengthening leadership – The organisation will ‘foster values-based leadership and accountability to unite staff behind a shared mission’.
Modernising the NMC – Plans include updating outdated systems, technology and legislation to make the organisation more agile, efficient and fit for the future.

Paul Rees said the NMC had begun a ‘radical turnaround’ since he joined the regulator in January, but that following feedback from the public, registrants, stakeholders and staff the NMC ‘must do better’.

‘That includes enhancing our education and standards, delivering fairer and timelier fitness to practise decisions, creating an empowering culture, strengthening leadership, and modernising our systems.

‘We will focus relentlessly on these core priorities, with quality and equity at the heart of everything we do. We’re determined to become the strong and independent regulator that the public and professionals deserve,’ Mr Rees said.

The NMC has said it plans to reduce delays at every stage of the FtP process, and make ‘consistent, proportionate’ decisions which are based on clinical advice.

The regulator has also committed to enhancing its communication and engagement with the public and professionals, alongside improving safeguarding and support for participants in regulatory processes.

Beyond FtP, the NMC will also review practice learning requirements, with findings due in autumn 2026. The review aims to ensure students train in safe, inclusive environments that prepare them effectively for practice.

Education quality assurance will also be strengthened to allow early identification of issues and prompt action with educators when concerns arise.

By 2027, the NMC aims to have laid the foundations for sustained improvement and restored trust in its ability to regulate effectively, fairly, and with compassion.

Ron Barclay-Smith, NMC Council chair, described the strategy as a ‘fresh commitment’ to ensure the NMC is ‘a fit for the future regulator.’

‘We have made improvements and are rebuilding confidence in our work, but there is still a long way to go.

‘Guided by our new organisational values, our strategy for 2025-2027 sets us on a clear path to transforming our culture and regulatory performance,’ he said.

Earlier this month, the NMC said it would use the coming months to deliver further targeted reforms to transform the FtP experience, including clearer, more compassionate first contact with people when concerns are raised about their practice.

Also this month, the NMC launched a survey on the future of the Code and revalidation, asking what change is needed to better reflect the UK’s ‘evolving health and social care landscape’ and ‘new and emerging challenges in practice’.

At the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Congress in May, nursing staff warned that FtP investigations risk inflicting ‘significant psychological and professional harm’ on registrants and may be impacting patient safety.