NMC registration failure: Homecare Association calls for public protection and accurate information to come first

The Homecare Association has responded to the Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC's) disclosure of a serious historical failure in its registration checks, calling on the regulator to put the safety of people who draw on care first, and to ensure the information it provides to the public is accurate and consistent.

The NMC has acknowledged that, over a period of around 12 years, health and character declarations made by nurses and midwives were not consistently referred for a decision by an assistant registrar, as its own process required. Following a review of 18,060 cases, the NMC has said that 421 professionals are being asked to provide further information, and that up to 15 may be recommended for removal from a register of 867,935 - a decision that rests with independent panels. The NMC has apologised, describing the failure as "completely and utterly unacceptable," and has said it will conduct a comprehensive investigation into how it happened.

The NMC has now provided care provider organisations, including the Homecare Association, with its communications materials. The Association notes that the figure reported in that media coverage - 434 affected professionals - differs from the 421 confirmed in the NMC's own published materials.

Comment from Dr Jane Townson OBE, Chief Executive of the Homecare Association:

"Professional regulation exists to protect the public, and that must be the NMC's first priority. We welcome the NMC's commitment to a comprehensive investigation into this failure - but that investigation must be independent, and it must establish whether any person receiving care was affected over the 12 years this went undetected. It is not enough to assume that employers' own recruitment checks will have caught every case. People who received care deserve a clear and honest answer.

"We are also concerned about accuracy. The number of affected professionals has shifted more than once in the space of a single day - from the figure given when the NMC briefed us on 26 May, to the figure reported in the national media, to the 421 now confirmed in the NMC's published materials. On a matter of public protection, the public, employers, and affected professionals must be able to rely on what their regulator tells them.

"Homecare is delivered in people's own homes, often by professionals working alone with those who are most vulnerable. The NMC is relying on registrants to inform their own employers, and has named a single regulation adviser for the entire independent and social care sector. Social care must be properly served in this process, not treated as an afterthought.

"We want the NMC's new leadership to succeed in rebuilding the organisation. The public and the professions need a regulator they can trust. We will continue to engage constructively - but trust is rebuilt through accurate, transparent action."

Patient organisations and the nursing profession have raised similar concerns, including calls for an independent investigation into why this failure went undetected for so long. The Homecare Association is calling on the NMC to:

• Ensure its investigation into the failure is independent, and that it establishes and openly communicates whether any person receiving care was affected during the 12-year period;
• Not rely on employers' pre-employment checks as a substitute for establishing the facts, and to work actively with other health and care regulators to understand the wider impact;
• Be accurate and consistent in the figures and information it publishes, and transparent about how they have been reached;
• Ensure that engagement with care providers is properly resourced and informed, with points of contact adequate to the scale of the sector;
• Ensure that robust, well-resourced wellbeing support is in place and clearly communicated for every professional affected; and
• Keep the Professional Standards Authority fully informed.

The Homecare Association will continue to engage with the NMC and will update its members as the situation develops.

ENDS

Notes to editors

The Homecare Association is the UK’s membership body for homecare providers, with over 2,100 members nationally. The Homecare Association’s mission is to ensure that homecare is valued, so all of us can live well at home and flourish within our communities. The Homecare Association acts as a trusted voice, taking a lead in shaping homecare, in collaboration with partners across the care sector. It also provides hands-on support and practical tools for its members. As a member-led professional association, the Homecare Association's members agree to abide by the Association's Code of Practice.

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