Health Regulator Elects New President, UK

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 07 Aug 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) announced Jill Crawford as the new President of its governing Council.

The result of the ballot of the 22 voting members of the Council was received yesterday following an election process administered by Electoral Reform Services.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Crawford said:

"I am delighted to have been elected as President of the NMC. Knowing that I have the support and confidence of my fellow Council members in leading the NMC through the next few months is enormously encouraging.

"As President I feel my objective is clear - to ensure that this Council oversees the efficient and effective implementation of our action plan following the CHRE report and ensure that we are delivering our statutory functions in a way that will regain the trust and confidence of our stakeholders and the public whom we serve.

"We have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time. Council has acknowledged the need for us to learn from recent events and work with our key stakeholders to prioritise the actions, make rapid progress and deliver a robust, efficient and effective organisation to the new Council that is coming into office on 1 January 2009."

There were two candidates in the election: Jill Crawford and Abbey Akinoshun, the nurse registrant member for England. Commenting on the outcome of the election, Abbey Akinoshun said:

"At this point in time what is most important is the future of the NMC. Successful implementation of the CHRE action plan is critical for public protection and the organisation's future. I am confident of Jill's ability as a Council member and I have full confidence in her ability to lead this Council and the NMC through the challenges of the next few months."

Jill Crawford has been a lay member of Council since 2002 and brings considerable knowledge and experience to the role. A resident of Newport Pagnell in Buckinghamshire, Jill has a background in campaigning for improvements in maternity services. She is a member of the National Childbirth Trust and has chaired Maternity Service Liaison Committees in Milton Keynes and Bradford. She is currently Vice-Chair of the NMC Midwifery Committee and also sits on the Conduct and Competence Committee and Performance and Business Planning Committee. Her term of office begins on 13 August 2008.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. The primary purpose of the NMC is protection of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to practice within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct. Currently the number of registrants exceeds 674,000. The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (The Order), sets out the NMC's role and responsibilities.

Nursing and Midwifery Council