The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has admitted that it failed to carry out proper checks on nurses and midwives who had criminal convictions, allowing them to practise for up to 12 years. The regulator acknowledged that its 'completely and utterly unacceptable' mistakes meant it did not protect the public from around 15 professionals who should have been banned from working in healthcare.
The NMC's chief executive, Paul Rees, apologised for the failures, which came to light after a whistleblower alerted the regulator. An internal review found that 434 cases had not been properly risk-assessed, with up to 15 individuals now facing being struck off. The cases involved criminal charges, convictions, cautions, or health conditions that could impair their ability to treat patients safely.
The Patients Association warned that the failings undermine public trust, while the Royal College of Nursing called it an 'astounding failure' of the NMC's primary duty to safeguard the public. The RCN's chief nursing officer, Professor Lynn Woolsey, described the lack of checks over such a long period as 'potentially dangerous'.
Under NMC rules, nurses and midwives must declare any criminal matters or health issues when applying to join or remain on the register. However, staff failed to refer these declarations to an assistant registrar for investigation. The NMC has since hired a team of paralegals to review 18,060 applications from the past 12 years.
Final decisions on the 15 cases will be made by independent disciplinary panels in the coming months. Rees said the NMC is now promoting a 'speak up culture' to prevent similar failures in the future.
