48 nurses are to be referred to the NMC’s Investigating Committee for obtaining registration fraudulently through the NMC’s international entry route.

We previously reported that as a result of “anomalous data” at a third-party CBT test centre in Nigeria, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said it will investigate 500 nurses for fraudulent or incorrect entry to its register.

The NMC has now confirmed that only 48 nurses will be investigated.  It said on its website:

“Of the 515 professionals on the register, 48 achieved their score in a time we believe is more likely than not to indicate that they obtained their result fraudulently. We will refer each of these cases to an independent panel, called an Investigating Committee, to decide whether they gained fraudulent entry to the register.

“In line with our existing policy, those individuals will be offered three opportunities to take a new CBT and will be able to give the Investigating Committee information about the circumstances in which they took the CBT at Yunnik, including any mitigating circumstances or character references. They’ll have the chance to attend a hearing to provide the Investigating Committee with evidence in person.

“If the Investigating Committee decides that an individual’s entry to our register was fraudulently obtained, they’re likely to direct us to remove that individual from the register. An individual would have a right of appeal against this decision.”

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Andrea Sutcliffe, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“We understand this continues to be a distressing time for people facing uncertainty about their application or place on our register. We’re committed to managing these concerns in the safest and fairest way we can. It’s been essential to look carefully at all the data and other information presented to us before deciding on the right and proportionate approach for everyone.

“Internationally educated nurses and midwives make an incredibly important contribution in our health and social care system. Our paramount concern remains to protect the public by maintaining the integrity of the register for nursing and midwifery professionals practising in the UK. That’s why we’ve responded to this situation with such painstaking care and consideration.

“We’ve kept employers and key partners, including trade unions and other support groups, updated while we’ve worked through this, encouraging them to support individuals affected and proactively tackle any incidents of racism or discrimination that may have arisen. We’ll continue that dialogue while we move forward with this regulatory action, and I’m grateful for their collaboration and understanding.”

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