Nursing regulator 'not protecting patients'

The Health Select Committee has warned that the organisation responsible for regulating nurses currently has too much of a backlog to effectively protect patients.

Made up of a cross-party group of MPs, the committee also said it is concerned by the high number of decisions made by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) that are overturned on appeal.

Responsible for registering and regulating the 670,000 nurses and midwives currently working in the UK, the NMC has been criticised heavily in recent years.

A report by the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence last year said the organisation was performing poorly "at every level".

Now the Health Committee is urging the NMC to clear its backlog of more than 500 cases and increase the speed with which it deals with cases.

Currently, the average is around 18 months, but MPs want the body to half this figure.

Committee chairman Stephen Dorrell said: "The NMC's job is to protect patient safety by registering nurses and midwives and by enforcing acceptable standards of practice.

"The simple fact is that in recent years it has fallen down on that task."

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