Departing chief spells out ongoing NMC challenges

Andrea Sutcliffe revealed in May that she would be resigning as chief executive and registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) due to ill health.

Marking the end of her tenure at the NMC, Ms Sutcliffe spoke to Nursing Times about some of her key achievements while leading the organisation over the last five years, and the challenges that lie ahead for her successor and the important work that must be prioritised in the coming months.

Ms Sutcliffe’s departure comes at a tricky time for the regulator, which has come under fire for alleged failures in its regulatory processes and concerns about its internal culture.

A series of articles were published by The Independent last year, which raised serious concerns about the inner workings of the NMC, the way it treats staff and how it handles whistleblowing.

The newspaper reported that there was a “culture of fear” at the NMC that meant staff were afraid to speak out, while also claiming that there were issues of racial discrimination and sexism within the organisation.

Ms Sutcliffe said the articles raised “really serious concerns” about the internal workings of the NMC and stressed the necessity of the independent reviews to “thoroughly scrutinise” what has been going wrong.

“We’re trying to do things, but we’re clearly not doing enough and it’s not making the difference it needs to,” explained Ms Sutcliffe.

“Some people’s experience within the organisation is not acceptable, and we’ve got to get that right.”

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Source: Nursing Times, 28 June 2024