Possible three yearly checks for nurses and midwives under new scheme

Midwives and nurses working in the United Kingdom may face checks by patients, work colleagues and managers every three years in a new scheme proposed by The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

At the moment, nurses and midwives need to renew their fitness to practice, but following a number of disciplinary cases and the fallout from the Francis Report which looked into the issues raised at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the NMC is keen to start a new process known as revalidation.

Under the proposed scheme, nurses and midwives will face the same kind of checks as Doctors (although they go through revalidation every five years) and will receive feedback on their performance, with those who are not up to scratch facing being prevented from working with patients.

There are around 670,000 midwives and nurses working in the UK and the revalidation process will be part of the normal appraisal system from 2015 if it is endorsed by the governing body of the NMC.  If the scheme gets the go ahead, there will be a consultation period in 2014.


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