NMC outlines ‘multi-year’ improvement plan
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has outlined changes it has made since a damning review into its internal culture.
The regulator has pledged to put equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the “heart” of the organisation and published a list of actions it has taken in response to fierce criticism earlier this year.
“We are committed to improving trust and confidence in the NMC with both members of the public and our stakeholders”
Helen Herniman
In July, former chief crown prosecutor Nazir Afzal and Rise Associates published a review into the NMC.
The review, from which Nursing Times broke down the key findings, described the NMC as a “hotbed” of bullying, racism and toxicity.
As well as this, it showed the scale of the impact an enormous fitness-to-practise (FtP) backlog was having and that nurses had died by suicide while under investigation by the NMC.
In response, ministers from the then-newly elected government met with key figures in the NMC to discuss how best to act on the report’s recommendations.
As well as this, the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) announced it would heighten its monitoring of the regulator.
Ahead of the next meeting of its governing council this week, the NMC has published an outline of the specific actions it has taken so far, in response to the culture review, and what it proposes to do next.
The NMC said it wanted EDI “to be at the heart of everything we do” and that it would “get better at eliminating” discrimination.
To this end, the organisation has introduced a new ‘empowered to speak up’ guardian post, for which 12 people have been initially trained so far. These staff members can be spoken to if someone is experiencing, or observes, something concerning.
Further, the NMC said it had appointed The Equal Group, an external organisation, to “review” its EDI procedures – including how training was conducted – and to check for “gaps” in the way bullying, harassment and discrimination are handled.
The NMC pledged to publish an updated EDI plan and people plan by the end of the year, and said that a new EDI advisor would be soon appointed to the organisation’s executive board.
On FtP, the NMC reiterated an announcement made earlier this year of £30m additional for an 18-month-long improvement plan, and said it was “investing” urgently in external resources and expertise to improve its procedures.
It set a two-month average screening time target for 2025-26, and a target of seven months for investigation timelines by 2026-27.
In addition, the NMC said it would be further held to account by an upcoming FtP review, commissioned by the NMC and being carried out by Ijeoma Omambala KC, and the next PSA annual performance review.
“The [culture review] demonstrates that our regulatory performance and our organisational culture are inextricably linked,” the NMC wrote.
“We can only regulate well if our colleagues are operating in an inclusive, high-performance environment where they can thrive.”
Meanwhile, the NMC said it had also established a ‘safeguarding hub’. This, the organisation said, would mean that every referral received in screening “will now be looked at through a safeguarding lens”.
The regulator also promised to improve its engagement and collaboration with its staff and stakeholders to “diagnose, design and deliver” changes to its culture.
Further, it said it would publish meetings minutes and progress papers online and that it would continue to deliver regular updates at its council meetings and to the PSA, chief nursing officers of the UK, trade unions and government organisations.
NMC acting chief executive and registrar Helen Herniman said the organisation was prioritising actions which “positively impact people both internally and externally”.
Ms Herniman explained that this was why improvements to EDI and FtP were at the forefront of NMC’s response to the culture review.
“We are committed to improving trust and confidence in the NMC with both members of the public and our stakeholders,” she said.
“They need to see swift progress in the changes we’re embedding and that they are sustainable.”
Ms Herniman added: “We will enable improvements in our internal culture by tackling bad behaviours including discrimination, enabling and empowering leaders, and ensuring clearer accountability for our regulatory performance.
“Importantly, we’ll move forward in a spirit of collaboration. People inside and outside of our organisation can continually ‘test and challenge’ the steps we take as we collaborate on what a new, better NMC looks and feels like.”
The NMC’s next council meeting will take place tomorrow when members of the council will discuss the ongoing improvement plan.
