Regulation of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom

David HubertEU Policy Lead17 November 2011

About the NMC• We are the nursing and midwifery

regulator for the United Kingdom• We exist to safeguard the health and

wellbeing of the public• In order to practise in the UK every nurse

or midwife must hold current registration with the NMC

What we do• We set standards of education, training,

conduct and performance so nurses and midwives can deliver high quality healthcare consistently throughout their careers

• We ensure that nurses and midwives keep their skills and knowledge up to date and uphold their professional standards

What we do• We ensure that midwives are safe to

practise by setting rules for their practice and supervision

• We have clear and transparent processes to investigate complaints made against nurses and midwives

How we protect the public

Nursing and MidwiferyCouncil

Employersand

managers

Nursesand

midwives

About the NMC register• We have over 660,000 nurses and

midwives on the register• Around 33% of nurses and midwives hold

more than one qualification• Almost 20% of people on the register are

aged 55 years and over, and just 2% are aged under 25 years

• 20,000 people on the register live outside the UK

About the NMC register• 70250 individuals on the register were

trained outside the EU. Top countries of origin are the Philippines, India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand

• 12293 individuals on the register were trained in the EU. Top countries include Ireland, Spain and Poland

• In the last year the NMC has issued 8180 registration information packs to EU trained applicants and registered 2713 EU nurses and midwives

Maintenance of registration

The NMC operates a system of periodic renewal of registration and continuous professional development:• All nurses and midwives must pay an

annual registration fee of £76 GBP• All nurses and midwives must renew their

registration every three years and declare that they have met the NMC practice and continuous professional development (CPD) standard

NMC practice and CPD standardAt the three year renewal point all nurses and midwives must declare that they have:• Undertaken 450 hours of registered

practice in the previous three years• Undertaken at least 35 hours of learning

activity (CPD) in the previous three yearsThe 450 hours of practice can be met through administrative, supervisory, teaching, research and managerial roles as well as providing direct patient care

NMC practice and CPD standard

Nurses and midwives who do not meet the NMC practice and CPD standard will not be able to work because their registration will lapse

In order to renew their registration such individuals will be required to undertake an NMC approved return to practice programme through a UK education institution

The register and employers

The NMC does not issue a license to practice, instead the NMC register is the tool of public protection

Employers are required to check their employees registration status using the NMC registration confirmation service and by consulting the publicly available online register via the NMC website

The NMC code• All nurses and midwives

are required to abide bythe NMC code

• Nurses and midwivesare personallyaccountable for theirpractice and must alwaysbe able to justifytheir decisions and actions

Fitness to Practise• The NMC investigates complaints about

individual nurses and midwives• It is concerned with issues of:

• professional misconduct• convictions and cautions• lack of competence• health related problems

Fitness to practise statistics2008-2009 2009-2010

On the register 663,656 (100%) 662,283 (100%)

Referrals 2,178 (0.3%) 2,988 (0.4%)

Investigation 1,759 (0.2%) 2,126 (0.3%)

Sanctions 740 (0.1%) 925 (0.1%)

Striking off 216 (0.03%) 202 (0.03%)

Areas of development • Regulation of health care support workers.

Current debate ongoing in the UK about the scope and nature of possible regulation

• Additional material to support the NMC code of conduct. This will be formed of examples of best practice from nurses and midwives in using the NMC code

Areas of development• Revalidation: the NMC is exploring the

introduction of a new system to assure itself of nurses and midwives continuing fitness to practise and CPD

• In 2010 the NMC launched a new set of standards for pre-registration nursing education. All nursing programmes will in future be at degree level. Quality assurance approval of new programmes is currently taking place.

International work• The NMC has been proactively taking part

in the review of EU Directive 2005/36 on the recognition of professional qualifications

• In 2010 on behalf of the European Commission we co-ordinated the feedback of all nursing regulators in the EU on how the directive has been operating

International work• The NMC is actively taking part in the

following phases of the review of the directive to suggest changes. These include:• Updating the minimum training

requirements for general nurses • A requirement on regulators to share

fitness to practise information proactively• A requirement that regulators should be

able to assure themselves of an individuals language competency.

Online presence• Sign up to our email newsletter at

www.nmc-uk.org• Join our Facebook page at

www.facebook.com/nmcuk• Follow us on Twitter at

www.twitter.com/nmcnews

Thank you