The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has admitted that around 15 nurses and midwives who should have been banned from treating patients have been practising for the last 12 years due to regulatory failings. The regulator acknowledged that its 'completely and utterly unacceptable' mistakes meant it failed to protect the public from these professionals, who had disclosed criminal convictions but were not properly assessed.
The NMC revealed that staff did not refer these cases to an assistant registrar for investigation, as required. A total of 434 individuals with health or character concerns were not properly risk-assessed over the 12-year period, with up to 15 now facing removal from the register. The final decisions will be made by independent disciplinary panels in the coming months.
Paul Rees, the NMC's chief executive, apologised for the failure, which came to light after a staff member raised concerns. The regulator hired a team of paralegals to review 18,060 applications, uncovering the 434 cases that had not received proper scrutiny. Of these, 402 involved criminal charges or convictions, and 32 involved health conditions.
The Patients Association warned that the failure undermines public trust, while the Royal College of Nursing called it an 'astounding failure' of the NMC's primary purpose to safeguard the public. Prof Lynn Woolsey, the union's chief nursing officer, described the oversight as 'potentially dangerous' and demanded an independent inquiry into the regulator's fitness to practise processes.
