More than a dozen nurses and midwives who should have been banned from treating patients continued to work after the professions’ regulator failed to properly assess individuals over a 12-year period.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) apologised for the failing, describing it as “completely and utterly unacceptable”.
However, the nursing union said a “vague apology will not suffice” and called for an independent investigation.
The NMC regulates nurses and midwives across the UK, and nursing associates in England.
It maintains a register of more than 860,000 staff that are eligible to practise, as well as investigating concerns about staff and ensuring nurses and midwives follow its standards.
For a nurse or midwife to remain on the register they must declare any health or character issues that may prevent them being able to practise safely, such as a criminal record for a serious offence, or an unmanaged health condition.
It emerged that the full process for investigating these concerns had not been followed for 12 years after a member of staff raised concerns to the NMC’s new leadership.
The regulator said this failure has resulted in up to 15 nurses or midwives who should have been removed from the register being allowed to continue practising.
It expects they will be removed from the register following a review, although the final decision will be made by an independent panel.
Paul Rees, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: “I would like to apologise for the fact that for a period of 12 years, we failed to ensure that all health and character declarations were assessed in line with our full process.
“This is completely and utterly unacceptable.
“The NMC has faced a challenging period for a number of years, culminating in the publication of the Independent Culture Review, in July 2024, which highlighted the organisation was affected with a range of problems, including bullying, harassment, racism and failures of systems.
“The NMC is under new leadership and we’re determined to turn around this organisation once and for all, through a three-year transformation programme.”
The NMC said it looks at declarations on a case-by-case basis to determine if there is a risk to the public, considering factors such as age, how long ago incidents happened and if incidents were linked to nursing or midwifery.
Over the 12 years, the regulator said applications which included health and character declarations were reviewed by a specialist team, but were not consistently referred to an assistant registrar.
Since the issue was raised in February, the NMC said it has brought in a team of paralegals to assess more than 18,000 applications from the period.
It is now contacting 421 nurses and midwives for more information to assist a review by an assistant registrar.
Mr Rees said: “We’re turning over all the stones and dealing with the issues as they emerge.
“It’s because of the measures we put in place that this historical problem was discovered.
“Having promoted a speak up culture and a new set of values, including the value of Integrity, a member of staff alerted us about this failure to follow the full process for assessing health and character concerns.”
However, unions have condemned the regulator, with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) calling for an independent investigation.
Professor Lynn Woolsey, chief nursing officer at the RCN, said: “This is the latest in a catalogue of failings at the NMC and again calls into question whether it is fit for purpose as our profession’s regulator.
“Today’s vague apology will not suffice, and we will lead the UK’s nursing staff in asking very tough questions.
“The NMC must ensure all those practising as registered nurses are safe to do so at the point of registration and throughout their careers.
“It is a potentially dangerous regulatory failing that individuals made appropriate declarations regarding criminal convictions and/or health conditions over such a long period of time without appropriate checks to determine their fitness to practise.”
Gail Adams, head of professional services at Unison, described the situation as a “serious system failure that should never have been allowed to happen”.
“It beggars belief this could have continued so long, particularly when the NMC has operated under greater scrutiny because of other mistakes,” she said.
“Staff who rely on this system will want to know what went wrong and why it’s only just come to light.
“Patients, their families and registrants rely on the NMC as the gatekeeper of public trust and confidence. It’s only right that its held to the same high standards expected of the people it registers.
“For those affected, it will mean an uncertain and agonising wait, so decisions must now be made quickly, fairly and transparently.
“It’s important the NMC has recognised the problem and apologised, but it must go further and ensure steps are taken to prevent another mistake occurring.”
