We’re here to help if something went wrong in the care that a midwife, nurse or nursing associate provided for you or your baby during pregnancy, birth or after birth.
If you have a concern
Who you raise your concern with depends on what happened. It’s often best to share your concerns directly with the employer of the nurse, midwife or nursing associate as they are closest to the situation. This is likely to be the hospital where they were working.
Your feedback allows them to look closely at what happened, and find ways to improve services and strengthen future practice for others.
We understand that this may feel difficult for some people. If this is the case, you may wish to seek advice and support from one of the organisations at the bottom of this page. In some cases, what happened is so serious that we should consider if the midwife, nurse or nursing associate is a risk to the public. This is when you should raise your concern with us.
You can also come straight to us if they work independently, or if you’ve spoken to the employer but you don’t feel they have adequately addressed your concerns.
If you want support raising your concern with the hospital, please contact:
Your local Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) (in England and Wales). In England, you can search for your local PALS using your postcode online. In Wales you can find it via your local health board’s website
- Patient Advice and Support Service Scotland (PASS)
- Patient Client Council (PCC) (in Northern Ireland)
- Independent advice from organisations such as The Patients Association or Action Against Medical Accidents.
What happens if you contact us
We’ll look at what you have told us to see if we should investigate.
We can investigate if we believe an individual is an ongoing risk to the public. Our role is to consider if the nurse, midwife or nursing associate is a risk to people’s safety, not to punish them.
We can’t investigate in all cases. For example, if someone isn’t on the NMC’s Register. If we decide not to investigate, we’ll explain the reasons why.
If we do decide to investigate, we’ll explain what this will mean for you and how we’ll keep you up to date. We’ll work with other organisations and share information where it is right to do so. We realise that you may have needed time for yourself and your family and it isn’t always possible to raise concerns right away. There’s no time limit for raising a concern and the service is free.
How to raise a concern
If you’re not sure if you want to raise a concern, you can call us to speak to someone on 020 3307 6802. We’ll listen to your concerns and give you time to talk about what is happening. We’ll take your concerns seriously. When we consider a concern, it goes through a formal legal process which we aim to conclude within 15 months. We’ll keep you up to date and agree with you how you’d like us to do this.
Raise a concern as a member of the public.
Who else might be able to help
If we can’t help or we aren’t the right people, we’ll help you find the right people to speak to.
This might be:
- Hospitals. They employ midwives, nurses and nursing associates, and oversee their work day to day. They should investigate whenever things go wrong.
- The General Medical Council (GMC). They help if you think a doctor isn’t fit to practise.
- The The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). They help if you have concerns about other professionals, including operating department practitioners and paramedics.
- Regulators who take action when health services, like hospitals, might be unsafe:
- The Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England.
- The Care Inspectorate in Scotland.
- Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) in Northern Ireland.
- Health Improvement Wales (HIW) in Wales.
- The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). If you’ve already raised a concern with an NHS hospital and you feel they’ve not taken the right actions, you can make a complaint to the PHSO about the NHS.
Further support
If you and your family have had a distressing experience, there are also organisations that can help you with your wellbeing:
