The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has commissioned an independent review into its culture, following allegations of racism, sexism and a lack of freedom to speak up.
Solicitor and former prosecutor Nazir Afzal and campaigning and engagement consultancy Rise Associates have been appointed to lead the culture review at the NMC, which regulates more than 800,000 nurses and midwives across the UK.
It follows complaints that the NMC’s culture is defensive, racist, sexist, fails to take safeguarding into account, and that leaders lack accountability when poor behaviour is exhibited.
Staff have complained that they do not feel safe to speak up and that the culture, HR policies and practices compound existing inequalities and further marginalise under-represented groups, including ethnic minorities.
Last year The Independent reported that nurses accused of serious sexual, physical and racial abuse were being kept on wards because people who complained to the NMC were being ignored.
One told the paper that “deep-seated toxic conduct” within the NMC had led to skewed and failed investigations.
The terms of reference for the review suggest that leaders’ and managers’ focus on case backlogs has meant the NMC has failed to fully investigate cases, address discriminatory application of policies, lacked transparency and rewarded speedy but poor-quality work.
The review, which is expected to take four months, is intended to help the NMC understand the scale and root causes of the issues and the changes it needs to make.
NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said: “We’re here to protect the public and to do that, every colleague at the NMC needs to feel valued and be supported to deliver our purpose effectively. It’s essential we foster an open, inclusive and high-performing environment in which we all feel able to thrive. We need our colleagues to feel empowered to deliver all our regulatory work effectively, making fair decisions that keep the public safe.
“We’re incredibly pleased to be working with Nazir and Rise Associates, who have a track record in helping organisations to improve and embed supportive cultures. We welcome this golden opportunity to get to the root of the issues highlighted and make a meaningful and permanent step change that will benefit our colleagues, the professionals on our register and the people we’re here to serve.”
Nazir Afzal said: “It is a great honour to be asked to undertake this important work and our team is looking forward to getting started. Nursing and midwifery are the bedrock of healthcare but there have been too many care scandals in recent years where a defensive culture within health and care services has caused great harm, and that’s why it’s so important we have a high-performing regulator to keep the public safe.”
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