UK nurses and midwives who should have been banned have worked for last 12 years

Nurses and midwives who should have been banned from treating patients have practised over the last 12 years because of “potentially dangerous” failings by a medical regulator. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has admitted that its “completely and utterly unacceptable” mistakes meant it failed to protect the public from about 15 professionals whom it should have banned from ever working in healthcare in the UK because they had broken the law. The nurses and midwives told the NMC about their criminal convictions when they applied to join or stay on the regulator’s register, which they need to be on in order to practise in Britain. However, NMC staff who assessed their applications did not then refer them on to an assistant registrar at the regulator to investigate and decide if they could treat patients, which they should have done. The 15 or so nurses and midwives involved now face being struck off because their law-breaking is so serious that they should not be allowed to keep having contact with patients. The Patients Association warned that the NMC’s failure to properly look into the background of those concerned undermines patients’ trust that health staff are safe to care for them. The Royal College of Nursing accused the regulator of an “astounding failure of its primary purpose to safeguard the public, as well as to provide assurance to the nursing workforce that they and their colleagues had all undergone the necessary checks to practise”. …