NMC comment on Panorama's undercover care: The abuse exposed

1 June 2011

Commenting on Panorama Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed (Tuesday 31 May, 21:00, BBC1), Nursing and Midwifery Council Chief Executive and Registrar Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes said:

"The incidents highlighted by Panorama are extremely serious. We have already opened a case file and a number of nurses are being investigated. We are in close contact with the safeguarding authorities, the police, employers and the Care Quality Commission and will consider what further action may need to be taken.

"Every patient is entitled to the highest standards of care, dignity, compassion and respect. The NMC will not hesitate to act against registered nurses whose practice falls short of these expectations.

"Registered nurses are entirely accountable to their professional code of conduct. Any nurse whose practice is found to be unsafe, abusive or incompetent faces a range of sanctions up to and including removal from the nursing register. They may also risk criminal prosecution.

"We are extremely concerned about the numbers of healthcare support workers linked to the allegations in the programme. Healthcare support workers are not currently covered by any form of statutory regulation so there are no powers for the NMC to investigate or permanently remove dangerous or incompetent healthcare support workers from the health workforce.

"The NMC believes that this lack of regulation represents a serious gap in public protection and we will continue to encourage the government to address this issue."

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