The government has said it will “consider in detail” whether the law needs to be amended to prevent misuse of nursing job titles, amid mounting pressure from the profession for change.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) set out its position after a petition calling for protection of the title “nurse” received the 10,000 signatures required to force the government to respond.
“We will consider in detail whether the protection of title offences relating to registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates are the right ones”
DHSC statement
At present, the titles that are protected in legislation are “registered nurse” and “specialist community public health nurse”, as well as “nursing associate” and “midwife”.
However, “nurse” alone is not, meaning those without the relevant qualifications or even those struck off the nursing register can legally call themselves a nurse.
In a bid to change this, nursing workforce academic Professor Alison Leary launched a petition on the UK Government and Parliament website.
The move followed recent high-profile cases including one highlighted by Nursing Times of a woman who pledged to continue to call herself a nurse despite being struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for misconduct.
At the time of writing the petition had received 19,379 signatures.
In an official response to the petition issued on 1 July, the DHSC confirmed that it was exploring protected titles as part of a wider review of the regulatory system for health professionals.
It said protection of professional titles was “important for public protection” and said it was “aware of the concerns” related to the current freedom for anyone to call themselves a nurse.
However, it also cited “complications associated with protecting the nurse title given that it is used in multiple professions”, including registered nurses, dental nurses and veterinary nurses.
“We are pleased that the government have responded in a positive way and that they recognise this is a substantial issue”
Alison Leary
It said DHSC officials were looking at the issue in collaboration with the NMC and the office of the chief nursing officer for England Ruth May.
“We will consider in detail whether the protection of title offences relating to registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates are the right ones when bringing forward reform of the NMC’s legal framework, following our consultation on the reform of all healthcare professional regulation,” the DHSC added in its statement.
Alison Leary
Professor Leary welcomed the government response.
“We are pleased that the government have responded in a positive way and that they recognise this is a substantial issue,” she told Nursing Times.
“It is good to see that they consider protection of a professional titles as important for public protection.”
She said she and fellow campaigners would “eagerly await” the outcomes of the discussions.
If the petition reaches 100,000 signatures, the government will consider it for a debate in parliament.
The full government response to the petition
The Department of Health and Social Care is reviewing the protection of titles as part of the ongoing government review of the regulation of healthcare professionals.
The protection of a professional titles is important for public protection. Protecting a title provides assurance to the public that someone using that title is competent and safe to practise.
In order to ensure that only an individual who is registered with a regulator can use a protected title, it is an offence for a person to use a title they are not legally permitted to use or to otherwise hold themselves out to be a regulated professional.
Although ‘registered nurse’ is a protected title, ‘nurse’ is currently not a protected title. The Government is aware of the concerns which this generates, along with the complications associated with protecting the nurse title given that it is used in multiple professions (e.g. registered nurses, dental nurses, school nurses and veterinary nurses).
On 24th March 2021 the Government published Regulating Healthcare Professionals, Protecting the Public; a consultation setting out detailed policy proposals for reforming the legislation of healthcare regulators
In collaboration with policy colleagues from the professional regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), as the regulator of nurses and midwives in the UK, and nursing associates in England, officials from the Department of Health and Social Care and the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer for England have been exploring the issue of protected titles as part of the ongoing government review of professional regulation.
We will consider in detail whether the protection of title offences relating to registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates are the right ones when bringing forward reform of the NMC’s legal framework, following our consultation on the reform of all healthcare professional regulation.
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