Chapter 7: The Nursing and Midwifery Council
Communication with families
This chapter shows that no referral was made to the UKCC, as it then was, until September 2000. The documents reveal what the NMC did or did not do from that point to the decision of its PPC in April 2010 to decline to proceed in respect of all the allegations against each of the seven nurses concerned (NMC100150, pp1–13). The documents also reveal the almost complete lack of communication between the NMC and the families between August 2002 and June 2010 when they were told of the outcome. By its own admission, the NMC had been dedicated in that period to maintaining contact with the official bodies involved.
The documents show particular problems in the NMC’s communications with the family of Mrs Richards. The PPC decided in September 2001 not to proceed with the allegations but neither Mrs Mackenzie nor Mrs Lack, Mrs Richards’ daughters, were informed. A year later, the NMC wrote to both Mrs Mackenzie and Mrs Lack wrongly suggesting that the investigation into the circumstances of their mother’s death had been adjourned. The NMC was aware that it had made a mistake in this matter by, at the latest, May 2008 (NMC100086, p36). The records show that no attempt was made to communicate with the family for nearly two years (NMC100226, NMC100231).
The NMC recognised that its level of communication with the complainants had been poor. In a file note prepared by the Senior Case Officer, he noted that:
“… while the NMC had been dedicated to maintaining contact with Hampshire Constabulary, the coroner’s office, the Trust, the GMC and its agents, on review it is recognised that better work should have been done at the time about engaging with those members of the public that have made complaints directly to the NMC.” (NMC100176, p4)
“I accept that we could have been more pro-active in our engagement with those members of the public who had raised this issue with us. Notwithstanding some of the limitations about what we could have said about progress at various stages, I acknowledge that we could – and should - have kept patients, relatives and others with a key interest in the case better informed about developments and I would like to assure you that we will seek to improve on this aspect.” (NMC100343, p1)