Scandal-hit nursing regulator wrongly approved hundreds of nurses to work in UK, damning report reveals

A scandal regulator has wrongly approved more than 350 “fraudulent” or “under-qualified” nurses to work in the United Kingdom, in the middle of a “Dysfunctional” culture exposed by The independent.

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC)which regulates more than 800,000 nurses and midwives,, does not manage to identify workers who could pose a serious risk for patient safety And to prioritize investigating them.

It is only two of a series of failures discovered in a review by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which regulates the NMC. Which was invited by The independentPresentation, which revealed that the “toxic” culture of the organization had allowed nurses to work without control After ignorance, the concerns of denunciation were ignored.

The PSA report revealed that the NMC does not meet 7 of the 18 national standards and warned that:

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Alan Clamp, director general of the PSA, said that his report showed that “urgent and significant improvements are necessary for the NMC”. The guard dog has intensified his concerns to the Wes Street Secretary of Health and the Vice-President of the Selective Health and Social Care Committee.

Responding to the report, Crystal Oldman – who is the director general of the Queen’s Nursing Institute, who represents the community nurses, and is also part of a board of directors appointed by the government supervising the NMC – said: “A major change of step is necessary.”

She warned: “There is no evidence that there was a wholesale change. If they did not meet seven of the 18 standards, then it is a huge ringtone of alarm to ring.

“Two years since denunciatorThe concern, and nothing indicates that they succeed in all these counts, and this is very worried about the protection of the public. This is their first reason to be there: to protect the public. »»

Lynn Woolsey, head of nursing from the Royal College of Nursing, said that the NMC must “start returning the ship for the good of nursing and health care”, adding that “urgent progress is necessary” given the serious impact of its faults on some of its members.

A key standard that the NMC has not respected is the obligation to ensure that its register of nurses and midwives is correct. This came after the PSA found that more than 350 people were added to it by mistake, allowing them to work as nurses in the United Kingdom.

He said: “The total number of people added to the register without meeting the NMC requirements is greater than 350, and could exceed 400, according to the results of the CBT and OET surveys. The NMC register is so important that this is equivalent to a relatively low proportion, but we consider a large number of people to be recorded by mistake.

“Maintaining a specific register is a key function and a duty of a regulator, in the interest of public security and public confidence. The NMC added a large number of people in the register that had not met its requirements, and at the end of our examination period, it had not been able to fully remedy the situation. “

These included “fraudulent” requests from the centers in India, Nigeria and Pakistan who test the nurses against the requirements of the NMC, such as the possibility of speaking English to the required standard.

Errors also included hundreds of newly qualified nurses who had not finished enough training hours, as revealed last year by The independent.

The NMC said The independent That among the investigations for fraudulent entries, 16 people were withdrawn in relation to a center of Pakistan and the 30 registered of a center of Nigeria to deal with surveys, 19 were withdrawn. For those of the center based in India, 68 nurses were affected and, in any case, it was found that there was not enough evidence to prove fraud.

For nurses who may not have done the required hours, it was decided that they were satisfied with the skills necessary for nursing standards.

Another failure was the obligation to identify and prioritize all cases which have a serious risk for patient safety and to seek provisional orders, by imposing restrictions on staff under investigation, if necessary.

An internal audit produced by the NMC, as revealed in January by this document, revealed that he did not act to his safeguard functions. Although the PSA examination of 40 cases has found no concern in 90% of them, he criticized the NMC for not having looked for information on criminal layouts and convictions accumulated by a worker accused of domestic violence.

The PSA warned: “The NMC itself notes that it had failed to identify and act on the safeguard of concerns, and the safeguard continues to be the greatest strategic risk of the NMC.

Paul Rees, interim general manager of the NMC, said that the report reflected a “dark period” in the history of the NMC. But he insisted that a “radical change” was underway.

He said: “I recognize that our performance in 2023-2024 was not sufficient, and since we joined the NMC in January, I have undertaken to overthrow the organization – by ensuring that we build a positive, stimulating and inclusive culture for our inhabitants, and improve the regulatory experience for public professionals and the nursery and medium.

“Radical changes are underway, and we have made significant progress thanks to the delivery of our transformation of culture and our physical form in practice plans. In the coming days, we will publish ambitious objectives of equality and diversity to ensure that we achieve equity for our colleagues and all the people involved in our processes. ”

The latest conclusions follow the publication last July of the results of a review Directed by Barrister Nazir AFZAL KCWho found proofs of a toxic and dysfunctional culture at all levels of the NMC, and that the organization had closed its eyes on serious sexual, physical and racist abuse.

Shocking failures identified in Mr. Afzal’s report included a seventeenth period in the withdrawal of a nurse who was accused of having raped a colleague and Sexually assault a patient.

An additional magazine of Ijeoma Omabala KC, investigating the treatment of the denunciator who first pointed out concerns to concerns The independent And the cases underlined were to be completed last year but were delayed.

From The independentReport, the former director general and president of the NMC withdrew.