A Black nurse who tried to call out alleged racism at a scandal-hit regulator was hit by a complaint, The Independent can reveal. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) , which regulates more than 800,000 nurses and midwives in the UK, was heavily criticised in a review which found it had a “toxic” and “dysfunctional” culture and failed to address racism in its ranks. The review, published this week, prompted by The Independent ’s reports, warned the safety of the public, nursing and midwifery staff is at risk due to flawed and delayed investigations by the NMC.
It warned of widespread allegations of racism at the NMC, which senior leaders had failed to address and found the body was mishandling racism complaints against nurses and midwives. Staff told reviewers that prejudice such as racism and misogyny was leading to flawed responses to complaints against nurses. Now a Black nurse, Neomi Bennett, has revealed she faced a complaint submitted by a senior NMC representative after she publicly called out alleged racism by the regulator.
She told The Independent being referred to her regulator for her comments while calling out racism felt like a “betrayal” and “abuse of power.” Ms Bennett runs an organisation called Equality 4 Black Nurses which supports workers through NMC investigations and employment tribunals. According to a ruling seen by The Independent , in March 2022 she was representing another nurse at a hearing, which she said ignored aspects of ra.