NMC to take new direction

By Julie Griffiths on 19 July 2018 NMC - Nursing and Midwifery Council Midwifery Nurses PSA - Professional Standards Authority

The NMC has revealed how it plans to implement and build on the recommendations of the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

The regulator plans to take a new direction and ensure that patients and families are at the heart of what it does.  

It has set up a Public Support Service and a network of 50 employee public support champions who are already starting to bring about change.

The NMC is also improving the way it communicates with people to make sure that it is clear, empathetic, helpful and easy to understand – this includes a full review of all written correspondence.

There will be better information for patients, families and the public and NMC employees will receive training and support to identify vulnerable people and make sure they get the support they need. 

The NMC will make sure that all those raising concerns are treated as individuals to ensure that their needs are properly being met while better engagement with patient and public groups will mean their voices are always represented in the organisation’s work and plans for the future.

A new approach to dealing with complaints about the NMC will also be developed, focussing on openness, transparency and accountability. 

The NMC’s council will discuss the proposed programme of work on 25 July.

NMC chair of council Philip Graf said: ‘The mistakes of the past should never have happened and no apology will ever be enough for the families we so badly let down. But we’re absolutely committed to learning the lessons of the past and ensuring that no other families have to go through the same experience again.

‘It’s vital that patients and families are at the heart of what we do going forward and this programme of work is the first step to ensuring that. While we can never alter the past, I hope this work goes some way to showing all those who lost loved ones or were affected by the tragic events at Morecambe Bay how seriously we take this report and that change is our number one priority.’