Government provides £20m NMC grant

The UK's government has offered a grant worth £20 million to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in order to improve the performance of the organisation.

It was noted by the Department of Health that the body - which is responsible for the regulation of nurses and midwives, along with dealing with complaints and fitness to practise hearings - plays an important role in protecting patients.

Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said he is pleased to offer the funding to the body, adding: "Following a period when we have heard of so many terrible abuses in the care of older people and vulnerable patients, it is important that organisations like the NMC are in the right shape."

He also pointed out that with pay restraint being a key issue in the UK at the present time, it is not right hardworking nurses and midwives should be "burdened" with the "full financial cost of improving the NMC's fitness to practise function".

New NMC chair Mark Addison recently stated that the organisation is on the right track.

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