Nursing and Midwifery Council

Are your nurses registered?

Following a recent incident all practices in Kent and Medway have been asked to check that all nurses working for them are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

The NMC register is a key tool in protecting the public and nurses and midwives cannot legally practise in the UK unless they are registered with the NMC.

As employers, practices must ensure that the nurses they employ are registered before they begin work for you, and their registration status must be regularly checked throughout the time that they are employ.

It is important that as employers, practices sign up to the NMC’s free Registration Confirmation Service that allows you to check a nurse’s qualifications and registration status. The Employers Confirmation Services holds more information than the public register, including a full registration history and details of any cautions or suspensions issued as a result of fitness to practise proceedings. All discrepancies should be reported to the NMC immediately – the Employers Confirmation Service can be contacted on 020 7333 9333. The web address is:

http://www.nmc-uk.org/Employers-and-managers/

667072 nurses and midwives were on the register during 2010/11. Just last month the NMC issued a news release to emphasise the vital role played by employers in protecting the public and reminding them of their obligations to contact the NMC immediately should there be any reason to believe the public’s health and wellbeing could be at immediate or serious risk.

This is not new information but we felt it might be worth a timely reminder.