NMC accelerates bold actions to further embed EDI and anti-racism

On 2 December, the regulator will present specific proposals it has been formulating internally and seek feedback from key stakeholders. The NMC plans to roll out concrete measures in early 2026 to meet its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) target to eliminate ethnicity and gender disparities in FtP by 2030.

This target is one of five ambitious EDI targets, with others including a pledge to eliminate disparities in FtP complaints from employers by 2030 and another one to tackle disproportionate outcomes for nursing and midwifery students at approved education institutions by 2035.

The EDI targets are part of wide-ranging changes the NMC is introducing to embed EDI and anti-racism, as part of its Culture Transformation Plan.

In other developments, in order to help tackle ethnic and religious hate, the NMC has run a webinar for staff and training for key staff on antisemitism, with a workshop on antisemitism for FtP decision-makers planned. It will also soon run a webinar for staff and a workshop for FtP decision-makers on anti-Muslim hate.

Earlier this month, the NMC also announced plans to help improve Black maternal health outcomes, as part of its Midwifery Action Plan – with measures to be rolled out to embed cultural competence, anti-racism and unconscious bias awareness within midwifery education and practice.

In addition, the regulator has announced plans to review and update its midwifery standards in order to strengthen the importance of cultural competence and include a clear definition of discrimination, including all forms of racism, religious hate and ableism.

The organisation has announced that when it updates the NMC Code in autumn 2027, it will strengthen regulatory expectations around EDI. At the same time, when it rolls out a revamped revalidation process – alongside the updated Code – it will ensure professionals across all backgrounds experience a fair and supportive process.

Alongside these developments, the NMC has increased the ethnic diversity among the NMC’s panel members who decide on Fitness to Practise hearings – with 24% of lay panel members now being Black, Asian and minority ethnic and 23% of registrant panel members coming from minoritised backgrounds.

During 2025, the NMC has also started to take a stronger anti-racist stance externally. On 27 October, Chief Executive and Registrar Paul Rees MBE gave an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain condemning racism, after a survey by the Royal College of Nursing showed a 55% rise, over three years, in calls to their advice line from nurses who have been racially abused at work.

On 2 October, the NMC issued a statement condemning antisemitism after the horrific attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester.

On 5 September, the NMC posted another statement condemning racism, after a nurse of colour was allegedly racially abused in a park in Yorkshire and said that she will leave her NHS role, as a result.

Internally, the NMC is also rolling out proactive measures to ensure equity within its recruitment and retention processes:

• It has ensured that 80% of staff in its autumn 2025 cohort of the internal Rising Together mentoring programme are Black, Asian or minority ethnic
• At grade 6 and above, 83.3% of its shortlists have included at least one black, Asian or minority ethnic candidate since 1 September 2025
• Since 1 September 2025, 73.2% of its recruitment and selection panels have included at least one Black, Asian or minority ethnic panel member and 98.3% of its recruitment and selection panels have included a gender balance
• It now has a ‘tie breaker’ provision at interview, which enables the NMC to appoint the candidate who is Black, Asian or minority ethnic where there are two or more candidates of equal merit for a role, and the scores are equal, in order to address the organisation’s large ethnicity pay gap. This provision can only be triggered where senior managers from the People and Culture directorate are part of the selection panel.

In recent months, the NMC has rolled out EDI Fundamentals face-to-face training, with 925 staff already having taken the module and further sessions planned.

Since July, 152 managers have completed the NMC’s face-to-face Embedding EDI coaching sessions, with a rating of 4.3 (very good – great).

The new measures to embed EDI and promote an anti-racist stance have been rolled out since the NMC published its ambitious three-year Culture Transformation Plan in March this year – which aims to create a culture that is positive, empowering and inclusive.

Embedding EDI and Regulatory Fairness form two of the six pillars of the plan, along with strong and effective leadership, values-based decision-making, psychological safety and enjoyment at work.

Under the Culture Transformation Plan, the NMC is rolling out one of the biggest coaching programmes of any healthcare professional regulator, with all managers being asked to take part in coaching on embedding EDI, values-based decision-making, psychological safety and enjoying work.

One month after the Culture Transformation Plan was published, the NMC signed up to the UNISON Anti-Racism charter – with the organisation on track to deliver 18 of the 20 actions in Year One.

In September, the NMC launched a new set of organisational values – following a staff consultation – with equity at its heart. The new values are Integrity, Fairness, Respect, Equity and Effectiveness.

To ensure that embedding EDI and an anti-racist approach remains a top organisational priority, the NMC has created a 10-strong Culture and EDI team, growing the team by four posts since the start of 2025.

While the organisation reluctantly had to publish proposals to reduce its headcount by 10% due to financial pressures, on 9 October, it has safeguarded its Culture and EDI team from any reductions, in a signal that work to embed EDI and anti-racism continues to be a top organisational priority.

In September, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar Paul Rees MBE was named Inclusive Leader of the Year in the B.A.M.E. Health and Care Awards.

In the same month, the Nursing in Practice website published a blog in which Paul talked about his experiences of racism as a black child growing up in north London.

Earlier this month, Paul was interviewed in the Voices of Care podcast, in which he discussed the work he is doing to help build a new NMC and his experiences of racism.

Ron Barclay-Smith, Chair, said:

“We’re determined to build an NMC where fairness and equity are at the heart of everything we do. This means confronting the inequalities that too many nursing and midwifery professionals face, and taking responsibility for eliminating them from our processes, as well as tackling inequalities within the NMC itself.

“To ensure we rebuild confidence among the public, registrants and our staff, our processes must be fair for everyone.

“While we have made good progress to embed EDI in the first year of our Culture Transformation Plan, it’s important we step up our efforts to deliver lasting change, and the Council will be fully involved in that process.

“That means continuing to challenge ourselves, addressing disparities wherever they exist, and making sure that everyone – regardless of background – experiences a consistent, equitable process when engaging with the NMC.”

Paul Rees MBE, Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“During 2025, the NMC has taken great steps to embed equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as anti-racism.

“We are committed to ensuring that all members of the public, registrants and NMC staff are treated with respect regardless of their characteristics or background through our processes.

“Nursing and midwifery are diverse professions, serving diverse populations, and it is incumbent upon us to help ensure equality, diversity and inclusion and stamp out racism and religious hate in the professions and in our own processes.

“There is a long way to go to further embed EDI and anti-racism, but I hope that our direction of travel is clear for all to see.

“I am pleased that we have been able to ensure that, while we regrettably had to publish proposals to reduce our headcount by 10% due to financial pressures, we were able to safeguard our Change and EDI team, with the team remaining at its enhanced size of 10 roles.”

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