Response to NMC comments
Responding to the comments from the NMC, James Kennedy, Director of RCN Scotland said;
The RCN and NMC share many of the same goals including ensuring nurses provide high standards of care to their patients and clients. Public safety must always be paramount as the bond of trust between nurses and their patients is one which cannot be undermined. The RCN understands that the NMC has a huge workload but very much hopes that it will listen to the concerns raised by our members.
The RCN recognises the additional pressure on the NMC in dealing with the four fold increase in applicants from overseas over the past five years. It is also likely that overseas applicants living in Scotland are experiencing the pressures in the NMC system caused by government policy in England to recruit large number of nurses from abroad.
At our recent Overseas Nurses Network meeting our members talked about their perceptions of limited transparency in NMC processes and inconsistency in decision-making and communication. They have found that they have to repeatedly contact the NMC to find out how their case is progressing, and we can only assume that this further increases the workload of the NMC.
It is important for applicants to have a platform where they can raise their concerns and have their questions answered. The RCN's (proper title provides that support and we look forward to working with the NMC to improve services to nurses so that we can all benefit from the well-qualified and experienced nurses who do want to work here.