NMC asks Council to approve Fitness to Practice rules changes for faster, fairer process

The UK government has committed to working with the NMC this year to modernise its legislation. In the meantime, the regulator has proposed changes to some of the ‘rules’ governing how cases proceed and decisions are reached.

The proposed changes would mean the NMC can:

• Appoint Legally Qualified Chairs (LQCs) to Practice Committee panels, which preside over hearings
• Strengthen its case management powers, to enable more proactive case management, with parties given clear expectations on how the hearing will run and specific instructions on how they should prepare
• Share information via a digital platform or online account – where the nurse, midwife or nursing associate agrees
• Create flexibility in its process, for when the regulator invites representations and the timescales for these, and how much notice it gives of meetings and hearings
• Provide better support for witnesses, enabling more people to give their evidence as effectively as possible.

These changes would help the regulator to:

• Remove unnecessary process delays
• Free up capacity at the adjudication stage of the process
• Improve the efficiency of hearings, with fewer delays and adjournments leading to timelier outcomes
• Be more person-focused by recognising and putting people’s needs at the centre of what can be a distressing process.

Between November 2025 and January 2026, the NMC consulted on its proposed changes. There were 7,786 respondents to an online consultation survey, plus focus groups with NMC registrants.

Feedback showed high levels of support for the proposed changes – recognising that they would help make the process faster, fairer and less stressful for everyone involved, including registrants, witnesses and the public.

The responses also identified risks to be mitigated through careful implementation to avoid disadvantaging unrepresented registrants, people whose first language is not English, or individuals who need additional support.

The NMC has listened to all the feedback and adjusted its approach in five key areas to ensure reforms are implemented safely and effectively:

1. Phased introduction of legally qualified chairs, with monitoring and safeguards during implementation to avoid any unintended consequences for people's experience of the process
2. Clear powers to change or withdraw directions that have been given for the preparation of cases, such as instructions and deadlines for submitting documents and evidence, to support fairness
3. Keeping minimum notice periods for preliminary meetings – which allow the NMC and the registrant to raise and resolve issues in advance of a full hearing – unless consent is given to shorten the period or the public interest to do so is clear
4. A revised approach to timescales for registrants providing a response to allegations or evidence, keeping the standard 28 days but being clearer about the power to grant an extension
5. Changing the intended new wording on support for witnesses when giving their evidence, moving away from labelling witnesses as “vulnerable” and instead talking about special measures to enable all witnesses to give evidence in the best way that they can.

The regulator is now asking Council to approve the final proposed changes, which have been shaped by the feedback shared through the consultation.

If Council approves at its meeting next week (28 April), the rules will subsequently be approved by the Privy Council and then laid in Parliament – with the intention that they will come into force in October 2026.

Emma Westcott, Executive Director of Strategy and Insight, said:

“We’ve made steady progress to improve Fitness to Practise (FtP) – increasing the rolling average of cases resolved within 15 months to 74%, which is the highest since late 2020.

“We want to go further, but the legislation which guides our work is outdated and complex – making it difficult to transform Fitness to Practise for the better.

“It’s excellent news that the government will work with us to reform our legislation and what we can do now is to change the ‘rules’ that shape how FtP is delivered operationally.

“We heard really valuable insights through the consultation process, and we’re grateful to everyone who shared their views. We’ve amended the proposals to reflect the feedback.

“I’m confident that the final set of proposals will improve how we deliver the current FtP process, in advance of more wide-ranging reforms to enable a more straightforward, timely and compassionate service for registrants and the public.”

Other recent news…