Nursing watchdog failing to investigate thousands of complaints

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Former Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird KC said the backlog of complaints was “worryingly high” and called for urgent action to tackle it. Their concerns include: colleagues not feeling comfortable to speak out about sexism, homophobia, bullying and harassment Black NMC staff reporting feeling unsafe and “marginalised” NMC investigators saying they have “far too many cases” which “leads to cases not being properly investigated” “immense” caseload pressure means the investigation process is running under “extreme pressure” Staff also raised further questions over the NMC’s approach to regulation. Dame Vera Baird said whistleblower claims that the NMC council is prioritising its reputation is ‘very serious criticism indeed’ Dame Vera raised concerns that one allegation from the whistleblower who first raised issues to The Independent claiming that the NMC council was prioritising its reputation over its responsibility to the public, was a “very serious criticism indeed”. The watchdog said the new guidance said that cases may not be investigated if the staff member complained about responded by taking “sufficient steps to address or mitigate the area of concern”.