No plans to waive registration fee for nurses and midwives, says NMC

on 11 June 2020

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have said there are no plans to remove the registration fee for nurses and midwives in 2020, despite over 90,000 across the UK signing a petition.

The petition was asking for the £120 registration fee to be waived for nurses and midwives in recognition of their dedication and sacrifice during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  

A similar petition was submitted to parliament in May but was rejected on the grounds that the government was not responsible for the fee.

However, any changes to the statutory registration fee legislation has to be approved by parliament.

Commenting on the petition, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar Andrea Sutcliffe said: “I completely understand the desire to recompense and reward our professionals for the amazing things they’re doing during the response to COVID-19 but I’m afraid waiving or reducing the fee is not something we plan to do.

“The registration fee is an important part of being a registered health or social care professional and nurses, midwives and nursing associates are not alone in paying it.

“All other registered health or social care professionals in the UK also pay a fee. It is essentially your licence to practice.

“A key reason the fee is important to the NMC is that it’s our only source of income – we don’t rely on government for our regular activities of setting standards, maintaining the register, supporting revalidation and running fitness to practice.

“This keeps us independent, so we can protect the public by supporting our professionals – in normal times and during this emergency.”

Read more about NMC’s response here.