In Your Workplace

The Francis report into serious care failings in Mid Staffordshire recommended introducing nurse revalidation. Why would this be beneficial and what might it comprise?

It is clear that events in Mid Staffordshire were catastrophic, with patients suffering poor standards of care that have no place in the NHS. We should not be surprised if many lay readers of the report feel that, within parts of the NHS, dignity, care and compassion are absent from the care of patients

Consequently one of the recommendations of the report is the introduction of nurse revalidation by the NMC, just as revalidation has been introduced for doctors by the GMC. Detailed plans have not yet been published for nurse revalidation, but it will be designed to give the UK population greater assurance that nurses and midwives are fit to practise and capable of delivering safe and effective care.