Regulator wrongly approved work for hundreds of nurses

A scandal-hit regulator wrongly approved more than 350 nurses to work in the UK, amid a "dysfunctional" culture exposed by The Independent.

- REBECCA THOMAS

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which regulates more than 800,000 nurses and midwives, is also failing to spot workers who could pose a serious risk to patient safety and to prioritise investigating them.

These are just two of a series of failings uncovered in a review by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which regulates the NMC. That was prompted by The Independent's exposé, which revealed that the organisation's "toxic" culture had allowed nurses to work unchecked after whistleblower concerns were ignored.

The PSA's report found that the NMC is failing to meet 7 of 18 national standards, and warned that:

• There are "serious" cultural and operational issues within the NMC

• It is taking too long to deal with fitness-to-practice cases against nurses

• A small number of safeguarding failings could amount to a serious risk to the public

• Hundreds of fraudulent and underqualified nurses were placed on the register in error

• It had significant concerns about the NMC's ability to manage the quality of education provided by university training courses

• It has consistently failed for years to investigate cases against nurses fairly

Alan Clamp, chief executive of the PSA, said its report showed that "urgent and significant improvements are needed at the NMC". The watchdog has escalated its concerns to health secretary Wes Streeting and to the vice-chair of the health and social care select committee.

Responding to the report, Crystal Oldman - who is the chief executive of the Queen's Nursing Institute, which community nurses, and is also on a government-appointed represents board overseeing the NMC - said: "A major step change is needed." She warned: "There's no evidence that there has been a wholesale change. If they've not met seven out of the 18 standards, then that is an enormous alarm bell to be ringing.