Posted 12 December 2024 - 16:00
Posted 12 December 2024 - 16:00
News
Fitness to practise: top reasons for NMC referrals revealed
With a 14% rise in concerns raised to the Nursing and Midwifery Council in 2023-24, data reveals that rudeness and a lack of compassion are among the top reasons for referrals made by the public. In a report of data from the past five years, it shows the total number of nurses and midwives that have been struck off and insight into who is more likely to be reported and struck off.
NMC data show the public is more likely to raise concerns over communication and rudeness in nursing staff, while employers focus on performance and record-keeping
Nurses are most likely to be referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) by the public for alleged patient care issues, rudeness or a lack of compassion, new data reveals.
Male nurses more likely to be referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council
While the public are more likely to raise concerns with the regulator about communication issues and rudeness from nurses and midwives, employers tend to focus on performance-related concerns over competence and record-keeping.
Insight into Fitness to Practise, published by the NMC also shows a 14% increase in new concerns last year, with 5,774 referrals in 2023-24 compared with 5,068 in 2022-2023.
Data showed male nurses are more likely to be referred to fitness to practise (FtP) cases and made up 23.1% of new referrals in 2023-24 despite only accounting for 11% of the register. A higher proportion of midwives are also referred compared to nurses.
The NMC report also showed, in a breakdown of all NMC decisions from 2019-2024, that registrants had a 50-50 chance of being struck off the register after a hearing, with 51% of the decisions highlighted in the report ending in a striking off order.
In total, 1,107 people have been struck off the register over the five-year period.
Nurses with representation at fitness to practise hearings more likely to be cleared of charges
Meanwhile, of the decisions highlighted in the report for the same period, 262 (12%) were given a suspension order, 195 (9%) were given a conditions of practice order, 165 (7.7%) were given a caution order and 410 (19%) were found to not be impaired.
Only 29% of all registrants involved in FtP hearings were represented by a union or legal representative, and those who were represented were far more likely to be cleared of charges. Three quarters of those found ‘not impaired’ had representation at a hearing.
The most common reason for referral from public and employers was around patient care, which includes issues relating to diagnosis, observation or assessment of patients. It can also involve delayed or inappropriate responses to patient deterioration.
But while employers often raised issues about prescribing and medicines management issues, record-keeping and dishonesty, most of the public referrals highlighted a lack of care or kindness.
NMC commits to more timely decisions
NMC interim executive director of strategy and insight Kuljit Dhillon said: ‘If we’re going to uphold public confidence in the professions, then all parts of the patient safety system, including the NMC, must do better to support all professionals to communicate effectively with the people in their care.
‘The data is clear that this is fundamental to a good care experience, ensuring patients feel informed, respected and cared for.
‘For our part, we’re committed to more timely decision-making in our FtP process, and we’re working to improve the quality, accessibility and usability of our data for the sector.’
Alongside the report, the NMC has published Managing Concerns: a Resource for Employers on best practice when managing concerns.
It comes as the regulator continues to battle the growing backlog of over 6,500 FtP cases, and attempts to improve the referral process to ensure it is only dealing with essential cases that cannot be dealt with locally by an employer.
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