Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will have discussions with the Nursing and Midwifery Council on streamlining the registration process for nurses who are registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland but obtained their initial qualifications outside of the EEA.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the independent regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC sets the standards that must be met by domestic and international applicants wishing to be added to its registers, and the required routes to registration. Whilst we do discuss matters of registration with regulators, the UK's model of healthcare professional regulation is founded on the principle of regulators operating independently from the Government, and as such decisions on registration processes remain their responsibility.