A new regulatory body for nurses and midwives, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, has been launched this week.

The NMC is the first of a new generation of regulatory bodies to follow on from the recommendations of the Kennedy Report into the circumstances surrounding child mortality rates at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. The report identified increasing the voice of health service users in regulation as key to public protection.

Forum Response: Nursing and Midwifery Council

Jonathan Asbridge, president of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, told ePolitix.com: "The primary purpose of the NMC is to ensure public safety and high standards when being cared for by a nurse or midwife. Having effective lay representation on the Council and its committees, and involving the public in all aspects of its work, is key to this goal.

"We aim to be, and be seen as, a modern and effective regulator which stands for rigorous but unintrusive regulation. Council members and staff are clear that their prime responsibility is to protect the public. That does not mean ignoring or taking for granted the 640,000 nurses and midwives on the register, but it does provide a real focus for all our work.

"As the first of the new style health regulators, we want to demonstrate that a balance of professional and lay membership on the Council works well in the public interest. We have a vast amount to do over the next three years and the Council is determined to be a model regulator in the way we go about it."

Forum Response: Royal College of Nursing

Tom Bolger, assistant general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, told ePolitix.com: "The RCN welcomes the establishment of the new NMC and supports the movement towards focussing upon the patient perspective. The inclusion of eleven 'lay' people on the council of twenty-three is a significant step towards greater public involvement and achieving transparency.