Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many midwives have been referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for (a) disciplinary and (b) competency assessment in the last 12 months.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom and nursing associates in England. It sets the standards that registrants must meet to demonstrate that they are capable of practising safely and effectively in those professions.

The NMC does not break down its data into categories of “disciplinary” and “competency” at the point of referral. Although the Department does not collect information on the number of midwives referred to the NMC, the NMC has informed the Department that 175 new concerns regarding midwives were raised with it between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023.

Further information on the number of referrals received by the NMC regarding midwives during 2022/23 is available at the following link:

https://www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/reports-and-accounts/fitness-to-practise-annual-report/