NMC seeks Council approval for fitness to practise rule changes “aimed at faster, fairer regulation”

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will ask its governing Council next week to approve a package of rule changes designed to make the Fitness to Practise (FtP) process faster, fairer and more compassionate for everyone involved.

The proposals form part of the regulator’s wider programme to modernise FtP, ahead of more substantial legislative reform the UK government has committed to progressing later this year. While the underlying legislation remains outdated and complex, the NMC says targeted rule changes can still deliver meaningful improvements now.

The reforms would allow the NMC to appoint Legally Qualified Chairs to Practice Committee panels, strengthen case management powers, introduce digital information‑sharing where registrants agree, create more flexibility around representations and notice periods, and enhance support for witnesses to give evidence effectively.

According to the NMC, these changes would reduce unnecessary delays, free up adjudication capacity, cut adjournments, and support a more person‑centred approach to what can be a distressing process.

Between November 2025 and January 2026, the NMC consulted on the proposals, receiving 7,786 survey responses and additional feedback through focus groups. Respondents showed strong support for the reforms, recognising their potential to make the system quicker, fairer and less stressful for registrants, witnesses and the public. They also highlighted risks for unrepresented registrants, people whose first language is not English, and those needing additional support.

In response, the NMC has refined its approach in five areas:

• Introducing Legally Qualified Chairs in phases, with monitoring and safeguards
• Clarifying powers to change or withdraw case‑preparation directions to support fairness
• Retaining minimum notice periods for preliminary meetings unless consent or public interest justifies shortening them
• Keeping the standard 28‑day response period for registrants, while being clearer about extension powers
• Reframing witness support measures to avoid labelling individuals as “vulnerable” and instead focusing on enabling all witnesses to give evidence in the best way possible

The final proposals, shaped by consultation feedback, will go to Council on 28 April. If approved, they will then require Privy Council sign‑off before being laid in Parliament, with the intention that they come into force in October 2026.

Emma Westcott, Executive Director of Strategy and Insight, said the NMC has already made progress, with 74% of cases now resolved within 15 months — the highest level since 2020. But she emphasised that outdated legislation continues to limit the regulator’s ability to deliver the FtP system the public and professions expect.

She added that the proposed rule changes represent an important step toward a more straightforward, timely and compassionate process, ahead of the wider reforms the government has committed to taking forward.

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