POLICY: The Royal College of Nursing response to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) evaluation of the revalidation pilots

The Nursing and Midwifery Council will soon be making a decision about what the final model for revalidation will look like, and when they do so they will take into account the results of the pilots which took place across the UK in the summer of 2015. The RCN has engaged extensively with members who took part in these pilots, including through an online survey. This paper provides the detailed results of this engagement work and sets out the RCN’s current position and key concerns in relation to revalidation.

We know that many nurses are still missing out on essential training and CPD because of staff shortages and a lack of funds and this could affect many registrants' ability to revalidate. According to the RCN 2015 CPD survey

• Almost a fifth told us that they were unable to complete essential training in the last year, 44% said this was because there were too few staff to cover their work
• 1 in 10 had to use annual leave and complete compulsory training in their own time
• More than a third of nurses reported not feeling up to date with core training in the profession
• 26% of respondents reported that they had no access to structured and 26% said that CPD opportunities have worsened over the past 5 years
• 28% said that they did not think they and their employers would be ready to meet the requirements of revalidation

While RCN recognises that registrants have a responsibility to keep up to date, this is a key area where employers need to be reminded of their responsibilities to help to ensure nurses have access to the training they need by helping to address the key factors which prevent nurses accessing training. This should be highlighted in the guidance for employers.

For further information, please email papa.ukintl.dept@rcn.org.uk