NMC criticised for 'threatening and heavy handed' strike statement

An NMC statement said midwives and nurses should ‘consider very carefully’ the impact of any action.

It also said that if the standards code is broken, they could lose their registration.

RCM general secretary Cathy Warwick has criticised the statement’s release at ‘a time when the majority of nurses and midwives are not considering industrial action’.

She said: ‘Midwives are highly trained health professionals and are acutely aware of their responsibilities.

‘That is why, for example, many of them work beyond their contracted hours, often without breaks, with no extra pay, to ensure women and their babies are safe and receiving high quality care.

‘Midwives also have to abide by the NMC Code of Conduct and are obliged by this to provide a high standard of care.
 
‘The RCM is not balloting its members on industrial action, but if this was ever the case, they would of course ensure that no mothers or babies were put at risk by any action.

‘Currently midwives are working under severe pressure, yet still managing to deliver high quality care.’

She added that they cannot be expected to continue ‘in the face of threats to their pay and pensions’ and not take any action at all.

The NMC’s statement, by chief executive and registrar Professor Dickon Weir-Hughes, said: ‘We recognise that many nurses and midwives are members of trade unions.

‘The NMC respects their democratic right to express support for their trade unions and to lobby on a wide range of issues.

‘However, this must never be at the expense of the people that they are caring for. Nurses and midwives are in a unique position of trust.

‘They have a professional obligation under their code of conduct to ensure that the care of people is their first concern and that they must provide a high standard of practice and care at all times.

‘In considering how to respond to calls for industrial action, nurses and midwives must ensure that their actions do not jeopardise good standards of care.

‘They will need to consider very carefully the impact of their actions on the people receiving their care.’

It concludes: ‘Nurses and midwives are reminded that their registration could be at risk if they fail to comply with the code.’

The statement has also come under fire from Christina McAnea, head of health at unison, who called it ‘threatening and heavy handed’.

‘I am appalled that the NMC has timed it to coincide with our preparations for an industrial action ballot – which has not even started,’ she said.

The RCN’s executive director of nursing and service delivery, Janet Davies, said: ‘No nurse would ever take a decision on industrial action lightly and it is a fundamental principle of the RCN that members shall not act in any way which is detrimental to the well being or interests of their patients.’

She added that the RCN would be ready to ballot if ‘deep-seated concerns are not addressed by the Government in ongoing discussions’.

While the RCM has no industrial action planned, it has not ruled out strikes taking place in the future.
 
It has also commissioned an independent survey into members’ views on pensions, the results of which will be released at the RCM conference on mid-November.