More than a dozen nurses and midwives who should have been banned from treating patients continued to work after the regulator failed to properly assess them over a 12-year period.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) apologised for the failing, describing it as 'completely and utterly unacceptable'.

The NMC maintains a register of more than 860,000 staff that are eligible to practise. Nurses and midwives must declare any health or character issues that may prevent them being able to practise safely, which are then referred to an assistant registrar to assess.

It emerged in February that over the 12 years applications which included declarations were not consistently referred to an assistant registrar. 

And up to 15 nurses or midwives who should have been removed from the register have been allowed to continue practising. The NMC expects they will be removed from the register following a review.

But the nursing union said a 'vague apology will not suffice' and called for an independent investigation.

Professor Lynn Woolsey, chief nursing officer of the Royal College of Nursing, said: 'It is a potentially dangerous regulatory failing that individuals made appropriate declarations regarding criminal convictions and/or health conditions over such a long period of time without appropriate checks to determine their fitness to practise.'

Since February, when a member of staff raised concerns, a team of paralegals have been assessing more than 18,000 applications from the period.

It is now contacting more than 400 nurses and midwives for more information to assist a review by an assistant registrar.

Paul Rees, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: 'I would like to apologise for the fact that for a period of 12 years, we failed to ensure that all health and character declarations were assessed in line with our full process. This is completely and utterly unacceptable.

'The NMC has faced a challenging period for a number of years, culminating in the publication of the Independent Culture Review, in July 2024, which highlighted the organisation was affected with a range of problems, including bullying, harassment, racism and failures of systems.'