NMC sets EDI targets to eliminate disparities and drive culture change

The new targets aim to eliminate disparities in the NMC’s Fitness to Practise (FtP) processes, including disproportionate referrals made by employers, and differential experiences and outcomes in education and training. 
 
The targets have been informed by Ambitious for Change – an NMC research programme to better understand how different groups are affected by our processes. 
 
The latest phase of this research, by the University of Greenwich, found no bias in the NMC’s final decisions, but did highlight bias in how the regulator dealt with Black and/or male professionals compared to white and female counterparts. 
 
Our new EDI targets 
 
The NMC’s new EDI targets are informed by the Ambitious for Change research programme, including recent research from the University of Greenwich. 
 
Under the targets, we will: 

1. Eliminate ethnicity and gender disparities in the NMC’s fitness to practise processes by 2030 

Supporting initiatives: 

• Include EDI and de-biasing as key criteria in FtP quality assurance  
• Deliver proactive de-biasing measures in the FtP process  
• EDI training for all staff, including a focus on regulation. This will be built on through ongoing evaluation and measurement 
• Review FtP guidance library and Standard Operating Procedures with EDI as key criteria. 

2. Eliminate the disproportionate pattern of FtP complaints received from employers in relation to ethnicity by 2030 

Supporting initiatives: 

• Survey employers to understand their measures to mitigate against bias in referrals  
• Share best practice with employers on avoiding bias in referrals 
• Instigate bias checks in our FtP referral process. 

3. Eliminate disproportionate outcomes, based on ethnicity, in nursing and midwifery education and training by 2035 

Supporting initiatives: 

• Establish a baseline of evidence on disproportionate outcomes 
• Update the NMC Code to more strongly address discrimination in different forms 
• Include EDI robustly in Approved Education Institution (AEI) approvals and NMC education quality assurance, using our standards for education as a basis 
• Continue monitoring performance against EDI elements in our standards, engage AEIs where needed and offer support. 

By 2030 we expect to see evidence of: a measurable increase in acceptance rates to all courses, reduction in attainment gaps and improved satisfaction and inclusion for ethnic minority students. 

4. Eliminate disparities in the representation of Black, Asian and ethnic minority NMC colleagues in the upper two pay quartiles starting now

Supporting initiatives: 

• Set metrics to ensure greater ethnic minority staff participation in career development programmes 
• Utilise positive action measures where appropriate  
• Introduce values-based and equitable interviewing practices 
• Adhere to equal opportunities best practice in recruitment and retention, and explore use of positive action measures 
• Encourage greater declaration of EDI data to build a more solid evidence base for pay gap reporting and measurement 
• Conduct an NMC employee career life-cycle analysis, using an EDI lens to more deeply understand the drivers of workforce disparities. 

5. Eliminate ethnicity, gender and other pay gaps by 2030

The initiatives above will affect movement on pay gaps. 

Under our new leadership team – which comprises Paul Rees MBE, as Interim Chief Executive and Registrar, and Ron Barclay-Smith, as our new Chair of Council – we have taken important initial steps towards our ambition to create a new culture that is positive, empowering and inclusive – and to become an anti-racist organisation, including:

• Signing up to the UNISON Anti-Racism Charter 
• Increasing the diversity of FtP committee panel members, and 
• Rolling out psychological safety training for its staff.  

Additionally, we have taken steps to reduce our ethnicity pay gap, such as pledging to ensure ethnically diverse shortlists where there are Black, Asian and ethnic minority candidates who meet the minimum requirements for a role.  

We have redesigned a flagship mentoring programme for staff to make sure that 80 percent of participants are Black, Asian and ethnic minority.  

To help embed change, the NMC has appointed two new Heads of EDI. 

One, starting in July, centres on regulation to ensure processes are as fair, safe and equitable as possible while protecting the public. The other, starting in September, has an internal focus on the NMC workforce. 

Ambitious for Change research  

The University of Greenwich found that while there was no bias in the NMC's final decisions, it did highlight bias in how the regulator handled cases involving Black professionals compared to white professionals, and male professionals compared to female. 

This included giving closer scrutiny to evidence provided in their cases and inconsistencies in applying interim order conditions (restrictions) on registrants’ practice. 

The research also found that the NMC’s communication standards needed to be more consistent and registrants’ own ability to access formal representation from lawyers or professional bodies varied. 

The NMC commissioned this research to better understand how to tackle inequality within its processes, and it is the third phase of its wider Ambitious for Change research programme.  

The research has highlighted important insights for the regulator, which it will use to inform its ongoing turnaround activities, which are steadily delivering positive improvements. 

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

“The NMC’s new EDI targets represent a major shift in our approach to equity for nursing and midwifery professionals working throughout health, social care and education and for our staff. The Ambitious for Change research has identified disparities in our processes. This is unacceptable, and setting the targets will be the catalyst for change. 

“We are embedding fairness and inclusion at the heart of everything we do. Everyone who interacts with the NMC should feel respected and treated fairly, regardless of their background or characteristics. 

“By adapting how we work, creating a more inclusive culture, and using data to drive improvement, we will play our part in eliminating discrimination, bias and inequality. That is how we will become an EDI-based and fit-for-the-future organisation, trusted to maintain confidence in the professions.” 

EDITOR’S NOTES  

1. In some areas, like the NMC’s workforce and fitness to practise outcomes, there is robust data. In others, such as education, a stronger evidence base needs to be built. That is why in some targets the NMC addresses ethnicity alone, and in others ethnicity is paired with gender
    
2. The new EDI targets are part of a headline set of strategic EDI objectives for the NMC – subject to approval from its governing Council next month to:

a. Build a positive, empowering and inclusive culture for colleagues 
b. Achieve more diverse representation and reduce pay gaps, focusing on ethnicity and gender 
c. Put EDI at the heart of the NMC’s infrastructure and decision-making, including governance, processes and prioritisation 
d. Ensure greater regulatory fairness and a reduction in disparities for groups across the NMC’s regulatory processes 
e. Become an anti-racist organisation. 

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