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Adult social care providers urged to help nurses with revalidation

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has asked adult social care providers to support nurse employees with their revalidation process

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has asked adult social care providers to support nurse employees with their revalidation process. 

From April, all nurses and midwives will be required to renew their professional registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council every three years, adhering to new criteria to show they are practicing safely. 

The process will replace existing post-registration and practice requirements.

The healthcare watchdog wants providers to familiarise themselves with the new requirements and identify their nurses' renewal dates.

The CQC has no legal power to check on employers' engagement with revalidation. However, the regulator pointed out that the Health and Social Care Act calls on employers to ensure 'staff are able to meet the requirements of the relevant professional regulator throughout their employment', and helping staff with their revalidation would demonstrate this.  

The CQC said: ‘We are committed to supporting providers to make sure the staff they employ are competent and able to provide people with the safe, high quality and compassionate care they deserve.’

The regulator’s report, The State of Health Care and Adult Social Care in England 2014/15, shows that nurse vacancy rates can be as high as 20% in home care and 11% in residential care services.

The CQC said it continues to find that people are receiving poorer care in nursing homes compared with other types of adult social care, and that high vacancy rates can affect the ability of providers to deliver safe care.