NMC publishes annual report for 2018-2019

Philip Graf, Chair of the NMC, said:

“I’m delighted to present these reports that show the real progress we’ve made as an organisation over the past twelve months since the PSA’s Lessons Learned Review.

“From the development of brand new standards of education for the next generation of nurses, to the introduction of nursing associates in England, and the growing focus on equality, diversity and inclusion, these are just a few highlights of a productive year.

“These achievements would not have been possible without the engagement and support of the public, those on our register and our partners across the UK. I would like to thank them, all my colleagues on the Council and everyone at the NMC for their hard work.

“As a regulator we will continue to change and improve, learning the lessons of the past and looking to the future as we continue to support nurses, midwives and nursing associates to deliver the best and safest care possible.”

Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar at the NMC, said:

“The past 12 months have been a time of significant challenge and change at the NMC and these reports provide a welcome opportunity to stop and reflect on what we’ve learned and the progress we’ve made.  

“Following the publication of the PSA’s Lessons Learned Review it was absolutely right that we acted quickly and took important steps to become more compassionate and person-centred in our work – not least through the introduction of our new Public Support Service.

“We have continued to make real progress against our key strategic priorities including developing our new approach to fitness to practise that encourages a culture of openness and learning when things go wrong in health and care.

“The organisation should be proud of what it has achieved over the past year but I am not complacent about the further work we need to do, in particular to sustain and enhance a humane and kind approach to the way we regulate and interact with everyone affected by what we do.

“I’m looking forward to the year ahead, as, together with the public, the professions and our partners, we develop our vision for the NMC for the next five years.”

Downloads:

• Summary of Annual Report and Fitness to Practise Annual Report 2018-2019
• Annual Report and Accounts 2018–2019
• Annual Fitness to Practise Report 2018–2019
• Annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Report 2018–2019

Key achievements:

• We agreed a new strategic direction for fitness to practise that encourages openness and learning when things go wrong. We tested our new ways of working and are continuing to put our new approach in place.

• In January 2019, we welcomed the first nursing associates on to our register following two years of preparing, with partners and stakeholders, to regulate this new professional role in England.

• We established our new Public Support Service, which supports patients and families who raise concerns about nurses, midwives or nursing associates.

• We refreshed our correspondence to make sure we communicate with people clearly, openly and honestly.

• We created a new, centralised team responsible for handling requests for information, feedback and complaints, with transparency its core aim.

• We developed new standards for the next generation of nurses and consulted on new standards to reshape midwifery education and training.

• We increased our focus on equality, diversity and inclusion in many aspects of our work, including our new nursing standards and our new approach to fitness to practise. 

• We improved equality, diversity and inclusion training for NMC employees and fitness to practise panel members.

Key statistics:

• At 31 March 2019, there were 698,237 nurses, midwives and nursing associates on our register – around 8,000 more than the same time last year.

• We received 5,373 new concerns about nurses and midwives – 2.5 per cent fewer than 2017–2018. That represents 8 referrals for every 1,000 registrants.

• We closed 3,389 cases after initial assessment. And took forward 1,990 cases to a full investigation - that compares with 2,420 the year before.

• 95 percent of referrals related to nurses, while 5 percent related to midwives - the same as last year.

• We imposed 84 per cent of interim orders with 28 days of receiving the referral – exceeding our target of 80 per cent.

• We completed 86 per cent of cases within 15 months of receipt – exceeding our target of 80 per cent.

Read our previous:

• Reports and accounts
• Fitness to practise reports
• Equality and diversity reports

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