NMC launches search for next Chair of Council
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has launched the process to find the next Chair of the Council.
It is looking for an outstanding, strategic senior leader who is a highly skilled Chair. The role is open to both lay people and professionals on the NMC register.
There has never been a more crucial moment for the NMC’s values-led and purpose-driven leader to make a transformative difference to the organisation and the people it serves.
An independent review of the NMC culture recognised its many dedicated, driven and highly capable people, but also found serious failings in its culture, including experiences of racism and other forms of discrimination, as well as bullying, harassment and fear of speaking up.
The review was clear about the link between its culture and regulatory performance. There are people who have been waiting far too long for decisions on fitness to practise cases they are involved in.
The NMC has already begun to lay the groundwork for positive change and is now looking for a new Chair.
They will need to provide visible leadership, guiding, challenging and holding the executive to account. They will also need to take accountability for the delivery of the recommendations from the independent culture review, and for ensuring that the NMC delivers its regulatory functions effectively.
The Chair must have a demonstrable commitment to advancing equality, diversity and inclusion, and to ensuring organisations are equitable and inclusive in their work, both within internal cultures and in external organisational impact.
They will need to bring a deep understanding of cultural transformation/organisational development, plus experience of leading and overseeing delivery in complex organisations.
In addition, they must be passionate about improving health and care for the benefit of people and communities everywhere.
The NMC wants the membership of the Council to reflect the diversity of the professionals it regulates and the public it is here to protect, so it is keen to hear from people with the right skills and expertise from diverse backgrounds, lived experiences and walks of life.
To ensure an objective external perspective, Sir David Behan will act as independent chair of the selection panel.
Sir David was CEO of the Care Quality Commission from 2012 to 2018, and has since held non-executive director and adviser roles with a number of public and private health and care organisations.
Council Vice-Chairs Anne Walker and Lynne Wigens, and Council member Eileen McEneaney, will also sit on the panel.
They will be joined by independent panel member Radhika Seth, a senior diversity advisor and senior independent assessor, who has worked on multiple public appointment campaigns.
As its work covers all of the UK, the NMC welcomes applications from across all four nations: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Chair will need to be able to devote three days a week to the Council.
The closing date for applications is 9am on Monday, November 25. Read more information on the role and how to apply.