NMC launches new strategy for 2025-2027

In the period covered by the strategy – between now and 31 March 2027 – we will focus on five strategic themes spanning our culture, regulation, systems and processes.

1. Ensuring trust in professionals

• Reviewing and enhancing our regulatory tools to better protect the public and support professionals.

2. Improving fitness to practise

• Improving the fairness, timeliness and quality of decisions while focusing on safeguarding and equity.

3. Culture transformation

• Creating a fair and positive culture to become an effective, safe and trusted regulator and employer.

4. Strengthening leadership

• Building a new NMC with strong accountability and united, values-based, empowering leadership.

5. Modernising the NMC

• Updating our technology, systems, legislation and learning to be more agile and efficient.

The strategy builds on our Culture Transformation Plan and Fitness to Practise (FtP) Plan, through which we have already made major strides.

We have begun creating a more positive working environment for our staff, improved timeliness in our FtP process, strengthened safeguarding for registrants, and further embedded fairness and inclusion throughout our processes.

Informed by our ambitious EDI targets, we are building a positive, empowering and inclusive culture that is actively anti-racist and promotes fairness for everyone in our regulatory processes and at the NMC, regardless of people’s background or characteristics.

Over the next 18 months, we will start our work on eliminating disparities in FtP based on ethnicity and gender and to address the disproportionate pattern of FtP complaints received from employers in relation to ethnicity.

Within FtP, we will also:

• Reduce delays by taking prompter actions at every stage of the process
• Ensure we make consistent and proportionate decisions, informed where appropriate by clinical advice
• Improve how we communicate and engage at all stages of our processes, so the public and registrants know what to expect
• Offer better support and safeguarding for people involved in our processes

In the next 18 months, we will also review practice learning requirements, so students are educated in safe and inclusive settings – supported to gain the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need, with the practice learning review published in autumn 2026.

In addition, we will strengthen education quality assurance to monitor concerns effectively and work with educators to take effective action when needed.

We are committed to restoring trust and confidence in our regulatory performance over this period so that we have firm foundations on which to pursue further ambitions from 2027.

The way we work towards delivering our five priorities will be underpinned by our new NMC values:

• Integrity
• Fairness
• Respect
• Equity
• Effectiveness.

Paul Rees MBE, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“Since I joined the NMC in January, we have embarked on a radical turnaround of our organisation. Now with a refreshed vision and mission, our strategy for 2025-2027 sets out our path to building a new NMC.

“Having listened closely to feedback from the public, registrants, stakeholders and our staff, we are clear on what we must do better. That includes enhancing our education and standards, delivering fairer and timelier fitness to practise decisions, creating an empowering culture, strengthening leadership, and modernising our systems.

“We will focus relentlessly on these core priorities, with quality and equity at the heart of everything we do. We’re determined to become the strong and independent regulator that the public and professionals deserve.”

Ron Barclay-Smith, NMC Council Chair, said:

“Our new strategy is a fresh commitment to the public we serve, nursing and midwifery professionals, and our staff team, that the NMC will be a fit for the future regulator.

“We have made improvements and are rebuilding confidence in our work, but there is still a long way to go. Guided by our new organisational values, our strategy for 2025-2027 sets us on a clear path to transforming our culture and regulatory performance.”

Read the NMC Strategy 2025-2027

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