Nurses - if you found out that a colleague had allowed her registration to lapse would you take action?

[zoggs]

About 8 months ago, I had suspicions about a new colleague and checked her on the NMC register. To my shock she wasn't there! I sought independent advice about what to do next but in the meantime her name suddenly reappeared on the register. I would guess that she worked as a nurse for 1-3 months without current registration.

Fast forward to now and things have deteriorated. The aforesaid colleague is making lots of mistakes, poor attendance, lack of commitment, falsifying timesheets etc. I have now spoken to my managers about my concerns and told them that I believe she worked without being registered for a period of time. I am now reeling for a second time as my managers have told me that they knew she had let her registration lapse. Apparently, she moved house and missed the annual reminder letter requesting payment. They seem to think that it is all ok now.

I am really shocked by all this and to me it is much more than just an oversight but am I making this out to be more serious than it is? Do any other nurses find this totally unacceptable and what would you do now if you were me?

[Sukie1971]

Report her to the NMC. It is unacceptable to say "Oh its an oversight". Registration is there to protect our patients and ourselves. I worked hard to get my registration and find it insulting that someone can "forget".

None of us nurses are happy we have to pay to do our jobs, but thats just how it is. What if a patient was harmed by an oversight by this nurse?

No doubt, report her to the NMC. Its your duty to do so, and Im sure its part of the Code of Conduct.

[meatntattypie]

Report it to the NMC AND put this in writing to your line manager.

I could easily "forget" to re register every year, but i dont, cos you cant can you!

Are you in a management position? if so you ned to be contacting HR re the performance management procedure.

Good luck, i dont envy you, it is a very horrid situation.

[meatntattypie]

What you going to do Zoggs?

[zoggs]

I am going to report her. I know I have to, I knew that before I posted but I am so shocked by the manager who has dismissed the incident as an oversight that I wondered if I had got it out of perspectice.

I am on nights at the moment and haven't slept all day for worrying.

[meatntattypie]

ahh love, its a terible burden. But tbh its the responsibility of the management to check.
Where i work, we have to provide out NMC card each year for records. This was after some one "forgot" to re new. They works as an Auxy till it came through.

[Doobydoo]

I am nearing the end of a Return to Practice course and it has been drummed into us the importance of Accountability etcI think you need to cover yourself also as if something happened and people knew you had doubts you might get it in the neck.Am shocked re managers attitude too to be honest.

[meatntattypie]

oh and sympathies about the nights, i always hated nights.
Dont have to work them any one thank goodness

[meatntattypie]

think ive had a small stroke!! Cant type legibly tonight!

[meatntattypie]

Can i hyjac a little bit and ask a question myself please???

In you workplaces, how do you manage to get training?
Are you trained on your depts? Are you taken off the off duty for training? Do you have a training person on your depts?

[zoggs]

I have looked into the NMC reporting procedure and it cannot be done anonymously. My managers and individual concerned will have sight of any evidence I provide. I'm not frightened by that but conscious that if the NMC took no action then my position at work would be untenable. What do you think the NMC would do regarding the period of being not registered?

[meatntattypie]

were mistakes made during her period of non registration?
If so, i think that indemnity will be affected,
The Trust/employer will have to respond...i do believe that this will be dismissal due to gross misconduct in the 1st instance.

[lou031205]

I'm not sure that they would do anything. If all she was sent was a payment reminder, she was mid-registration cycle, so only had a retainer of £76 to pay.

A lapse of up to 3 months is rectified by either paying £76 or £76 + NOP. So, having done that, she is registered again. Which means that if it was referred to the NMC, they would find evidence that:

She had failed to pay her registration fee.
She had practice whilst her registration was lapsed (on a technicality - she had no practice requirement as she was mid registration cycle)
Her employers were aware, and kept informed
She rectified the situation and is now registered.

With regard the other concerns, be careful. I had a colleague who would avoid certain types of duties (fundamental to the role), ignore infusions of drugs such as noradrenaline (extremely short-acting) in favour of 'making the patient comfortable', refuse to do on-calls unless she was with the manager (also her girlfriend, incidently), refuse to do certain shifts, etc. The final straw came when I realised that we had been told to claim excessive overtime & assured that it was above board (we worked in an acute environment and I was told double overtime (i.e. triple pay) authorised due to market forces, when actually should have been claiming double time). When I realised, I took it to my managers' manager, and then it went to the directorate CSM. It was a total whitewash. They knew they had done wrong, but it was easier to ignore it than sort it. I ended up leaving because I couldn't work under those conditions. I loved that job

[meatntattypie]

eee lou, come and work with me, we use LOTS of noradrenaline

[lou031205]

Are you in Scotland, meatntattypie? I am hopefully moving there in late summer, and would like to start practicing again

I worked in specialist theatres - angiography, recovery, etc. Loved it.

[meatntattypie]

no sorry, northwest, critical care, tis fabfabfab

[Fleegle]

I have known a couple of colleagues to forget tp pay their registration fees. As long as they then paid immediately, no further action was taken- although a memo cam out to all staff as a reminder.

OP we are all only human and mistakes can happen- you are still covered by nhs indemnity insurance.

As to her professional competency, do not report her to the NMC. If you have raised your concerns to managers, then they have a duty to act. If you feel there is a risk of serious harm, then use the whistleblowing policy in your trust.

Do not approach your colleague directly as you may be accused of bullying (not saying you are a bully by the way!)

[zoggs]

Lou - are you saying that you can work for up to 3 months after the date of renewal without paying the fee? Have I understtod you correctly?

[lou031205]

nice to see someone with a passion for it. I adored my job. On-call, middle of the night phonecall "sub-arachnoid" - drive in, prepare bed, etc. Help in theatre, recover patient, and drive home. Real buzz.

[JustAnotherManicMummy]

At the risk of being totally wide of the mark have you considered how your own behaviour could be construed by your colleague?

For 8 months you have been monitoring her behaviour, watching her and actively seeking to catch her out. All without discussing with your manager.

You need to be very careful. Your behaviour could be perceived as bullying or victimisation.

If you have concerns you need to report them to your manager as soon as the incident occurs if you are not able to bring it to the attention of the individual involved. Or despite you bringing it to her attention she continues to make errors.

If she is a liability and your manager does nothing then use your company's whistle-blowing policy.

If not, mind your own.

[agedknees]

We have to show our reg cards to our manager every year.

I take it your manager is also a nurse and governed by NMC? She/he must be breaking the code of conduct by allowing an unregistered nurse to practice.

This is a really difficult one. If you are worried about patient safety then you have a duty to inform your manager. If she/he does nothing go over their heads to their manager.

Patient safety is everything.

[zoggs]

Ok. The performance issues are an aside and will be dealt with by her manager. I fully understand that. Other people have already raised concerns about her practice. But I had no intention of raising that with the NMC.

I am only referring here to the fact that she was working without current registration for a period of weeks or months. It transpires that her registration was not checked when she was appointed. This was only discovered when our regulating body (CQC) did an inspection and a random spot check on staff files.

The logical step is to leave it for the manager to deal with but as she was the one who neglected to check the register in the first place it doesn't instill me with confidence.

On the one hand I totally agree that if I've done what I feel is right I should just leave it at that. But on the other hand I work with vulnerable adults in an area which often receives very bad press and I don't want to be party to a cover up.

[GothDetective]

[agedknees]

Is the manager trying to hide the fact she did not check the reg details? Surely she must have shown her reg card at interview?

How did they know she was even a registered nurse if they did not check her reg?

This is quite worrying.

[lou031205]

Registration cards are not proof of current registration, and that is made very clear on the NMC website.

The manager should have used the employers' registration confirmation service to confirm that the nurse was indeed registered.

However, I still think that they will not take action, as the registration was mid-cycle (ie. the nurse was simply paying her annual fee, not submitting a NOP) and it was resolved within the three month limit.

[agedknees]

Can I check with all nurses here that payroll are giving them £36 once a year (this is given to the trusts by the gov because our fees went up and we don't get paid enough to pay it).

Every nurse who pays their reg fees is entitled to the £36.