Fitness to practise plan approved
The NMC Council has approved its new £30 million fitness to practise plan.
The plan represents the NMC’s biggest investment in fitness to practise in a decade and the organisation says it will ensure it can continue to make decisions that keep people safe, but in a more timely and considerate way.
The NMC says it has been transparent about its timeliness challenges in fitness to practise but despite the best and sustained efforts of NMC colleagues, people are waiting longer than they should for cases to be resolved and this has a personal impact on members of the public and professionals, and impedes its ability to regulate well.
It has received an average of 493 referrals per month since April 2023, compared to 417 in the same period last year – an increase of 18 per cent. In February 2024 alone, 596 new concerns were raised which is why the NMC asked its Council to approve a substantially increased investment in fitness to practise.
The NMC says it has identified seven key areas for improvement.
Referral quality, safety and supporting stakeholders through its processes
It says it will help employers and the public to understand when a referral to the NMC is appropriate, enabling it to focus on safe and swift progression of cases that are appropriate for it as the regulator. For those referrals it receives and progresses, it will ensure everyone involved is properly supported, and its decision makers have access to the right clinical and safeguarding advice.
Safe and swift progression of cases at screening and investigations
The NMC will expand its screening team, which provides an initial assessment of new concerns. It will make sure more referrals are being actively progressed, and will swiftly progress the most serious cases which may require an interim order to restrict someone’s practice.
Releasing capacity in case preparation and presentation, and investigations
Outsourcing work, where appropriate, has long been part of its operating model in fitness to practise. It will expand this to ensure more cases are being actively progressed, and to release its internal legal capacity to prepare and present more cases at hearings or meetings.
Delivering sustainable change in case preparation and presentation
It will introduce new approaches to allocating and risk assessing cases, with a focus on cases with interim orders that restrict a professional’s practice. It will introduce additional management capacity to support case progression.
Improving the quality and timeliness of decisions at the adjudication stage
It will review the skills, experience, training and support its hearing coordinators need to manage hearings effectively. It will increase its panel capacity and run more hearings.
People, culture and organisational design
It will recruit and retain skilled and engaged colleagues, and make sure that resourcing and oversight remain appropriate to the number of cases it is progressing.
Improving its systems
It will introduce a new case management system in 2025. This will better equip its teams to progress cases safely and swiftly in a person-centred way, and ensure the public is protected.
Lesley Maslen, NMC Executive Director of Professional Regulation, said: “Thanks to the hard work of our colleagues, we’ve improved our fitness to practise processes over the last few years and increased the number of decisions we make. But we’re still not resolving enough cases swiftly, and feedback from our colleagues tells us they’re feeling overwhelmed.
“We need a fitness to practise service that is truly person-centred, collaborative, and straightforward for everyone involved. That’s why our new plan commits £30 million to fitness to practise over the next three years, with a particular focus on investment and improvement over the next 18 months.
“It will ensure we can continue making decisions that keep people safe, but in a more timely and considerate way that will be sustainable into the future.
“We are building on strong foundations. We have a new senior team in place, and better data from process reviews and modelling about the impact of our caseload. That insight has enabled us to shape this plan, which will realise our determination to resolve cases as safely and swiftly as possible, for the benefit of the public and the professionals on our register."