Fewer calls to the NMC going unanswered, new figures reveal

The percentage of calls going unanswered by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has more than halved since last year, new figures reveal.

The percentage of abandoned calls to the regulator between April and June stood at 5.9%, down from an average 13.6% during 2015/16.

Though 93% of the 31,000 calls made in June got through to an operator, 2,380 went unanswered, an NMC council meeting heard.

Call centre

Calls to the call centre are usually made by nurses needing advice on individual registrations, fitness to practise proceedings, the introduction of revalidation and a new registration process for European applicants.

NMC lay member Quinton Quayle told the meeting on 27 July: ‘I find it alarming that 2,380 people tried to call and couldn’t get through to anyone.’

The NMC has previously said the nature of calls had changed over the past year, including inquiries about revalidation and the new EU registrations process.

There has also been an increase in the length of calls. Training has also been introduced to improve response rates at peak times.

Registration and revalidation director Emma Broadbent said she was confident the regulator was ‘going in the right direction’.

‘Not acceptable NMC fails to answer 13% of phonecalls’ – June 8 2016