While there is still much to achieve in the second half of this year, I am happy that we are making good progress and in that context I wanted to provide you with some updates. I also wanted to thank everyone who participated in our consultations on the Rules and the naming of our new online registration system.
The Register of Nurses and Midwives
The Register of Nurses and Midwives is at an all-time high, increasing by 1,982 since mid-March bringing the total number to 78,869. This increase is made up of 1,110 nurses returning to the Register and 872 new registrations. During this period 430 individuals also voluntarily removed themselves from the Register.
The increase in numbers of registered nurses and midwives has been largely facilitated by those returning to the Register under the government’s Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (COVID-19) Act 2020. The relevant provisions from this Act that underpinned fee-waivered restorations are due to expire on Friday 31 July 2020.
The Register of Nurses and Midwives is a permanent Register, renewable each calendar year. Recent registrants will, like all other registrants, maintain registration until the end of the year and will also have the option to renew for 2021.
Our New Online Registration System
To support the ongoing development of our service for registrants we continue to work on our new online registration system, readying it for launch at the end of September. Training on the new system for Higher Education Institutes involved in the verification of applicants is scheduled for the end of August and early September. We are currently also completing user guides for students, applicants and registrants which will be available also in September, enabling everyone to familiarize themselves with the new system before they need to use it. It is anticipated that all renewals for 2021 will be done through the new system.
Consultations
We had two consultations last month. Thank you to all who participated.
We consulted on proposed amendments to a number of the Nurses and Midwives Rules in June and 395 responses were recorded. We also consulted on the name for our new online registration system. 251 people responded with over 50% expressing a preference for MyNMBI. We were delighted to receive so much feedback and hope that this will increase over time.
Business as Usual
As many of you will be aware our offices, though closed to the public, have continued to operate over the last number of months. We did however pause our fitness to practise inquiries. This month in line with government guidelines we recommenced inquires.
Opportunity to Join our Board
We opened nominations for three registrant positions on our Board today. Please do review the criteria below and consider applying if you feel you could represent your division on our Board, adding value to the next phase of our development.
As always should you have feedback on your interactions with us please do not hesitate to get in contact.
Hoping that you get to benefit from some downtime before the end of the summer,
Sheila McClelland
Chief Executive Officer, NMBI