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NMC plans more engagement with smaller healthcare organisations on revalidation

NMC director of continued practice Katerina Kolyva said there will be 'particular focus' on engaging with social care organisations about revalidation. 

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will do more to raise awareness of revalidation among smaller healthcare providers, its director of continued practice has said. 

Initial findings from research by auditors KPMG on readiness for revalidation - a new system to check nurses' fitness to remain on the register - has found that large NHS organisations are aware of the requirements around revalidation but smaller ones are not. 

At a meeting of the regulator’s council in London today, members heard about a ‘readiness assessment’ of revalidation by auditors KPMG. 

The NMC’s council will make a decision about whether to go ahead with the model in October and if they agree to do so, the first nurses and midwives will go through the process next April. 

KPMG's full report will be published in early September and some findings were shared with council members today, including the fact that awareness of revalidation may be more limited outside the NHS and large employers.

An NMC council paper said: ‘Social care was highlighted as requiring more focus in particular.’

Dr Kolyva said: ‘We have found through the revalidation pilots that levels of awareness differ across settings. 

‘There is a difference between large NHS trusts and specific settings, in particular social care. 

‘[The latter] will have particular focus in our engagement plan.’ 

NMC chief executive Jackie Smith said the regulator will use its revalidation programme boards in each of the four UK countries to provide more information on revalidation to smaller healthcare organisations. 

NMC council papers also indicate that ‘many [healthcare organisations] are holding back from starting preparations [for revalidation] until the requirements are finalised and agreed by council’. 

Speaking to RCNi following the meeting, Ms Smith said: ‘That is what you would expect organisations to do.

‘You’d expect them to say, “we are doing the preparation but we’re not actually going to start this until we know that’s the model and it’s go live”.

‘That is the fantastic opportunity that they have and we have. 

‘If we take the decision in October to go live, then everyone has got until the beginning of April.’ 

Ms Smith said some organisations are ‘thinking’ about revalidation while others are more advanced in their preparations. 

During the meeting, Ms Smith said ‘there is significant momentum behind revalidation’ and Dr Kolyva said support across the UK was not just for the principle of revalidation, but the NMC’s specific model.