Thursday, February 15, 2024 - Some Nigerian nurses in the U.K are being investigated for their alleged involvement in a widespread qualifications fraud.
It's been reported that over 700 nurses are
entangled in this potential scandal, raising concerns from a former head of the
Royal College of Nursing who warned of potential risks to NHS patients.
The scheme reportedly includes proxies
posing as nurses and completing a critical exam in Nigeria, a requirement for
registration and employment in the UK.
Peter Carter, the ex-chief executive of the
RCN and ex-chair of three NHS trusts who described it as an “industrial-scale
fraud” said;
“It’s very, very worrying if … there’s an
organisation that’s involving themselves in fraudulent activity, enabling
nurses to bypass these tests, or if they are using surrogates to do exams for
them because the implication is that we end up in the UK with nurses who aren’t
competent.”
He praised the Nursing and Midwifery
Council (NMC) for taking action against those involved “to protect the quality
of care and patient safety and the reputation of nurses”.
Carter emphasized the necessity for proper
qualifications for nurses working in the UK, given their crucial
responsibilities in administering medication, managing intravenous infusions,
and responding to emergencies like cardiac arrests.
Currently, 48 of these nurses are employed
within the NHS, as the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) lacks the authority
to revoke their registration without a directive from an independent panel
following a hearing. Although the NMC has instructed them to retake the test to
demonstrate their proficiency, it cannot suspend them in the interim.
These 48 individuals are scheduled for
individual hearings, commencing in March, during which they will be required to
account for how they seemingly completed and passed the computer-based test
(CBT) of numeracy and clinical knowledge administered at the Yunnik test center
in Ibadan. If found responsible, the panel may instruct the NMC to remove them
from the register. The rapid completion times recorded have raised suspicions,
as they are among the shortest observed by the nursing regulator.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is
pursuing more decisive measures concerning a second group comprising 669
Nigerian healthcare personnel, predominantly nurses but also including fewer
than five midwives, whose test results have been determined to have been
obtained fraudulently. Most of them have already relocated to the UK, according
to sources.
However, their situation differs from the
aforementioned 48 individuals, as they are believed to be primarily employed as
healthcare assistants in the NHS and care facilities. This is because the NMC
has not sanctioned their inclusion in its register while it investigates the
widespread impersonation occurring at the Yunnik test center.
Of the 669 applicants, approximately 80
nurses have undergone a new CBT test and applied for registration with the NMC
to assume nursing roles. Nonetheless, the nursing regulator has declined nearly
all of these applications due to "serious concerns" regarding their
integrity and reliability.
Andrea Sutcliffe, the NMC's chief executive
and registrar, stated that the organization had taken necessary and rigorous
action after being alerted by Pearson VUE, the contractor for the Yunnik test
center, about "widespread fraudulent activity" last year, involving a
"proxy tester" assuming the identity of a nurse.
"This is the first instance where we
have encountered evidence of widespread fraud at a test center," she
remarked, adding that it constitutes the largest-scale fraud the NMC has
encountered to date.
The fraud uncovered at the Yunnik test
center has prompted the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to invalidate the
Computer-Based Test (CBT) results obtained by 1,955 Nigerian-trained healthcare
professionals. All of them, including the 1,238 individuals for whom the
regulator cannot definitively prove involvement in fraud, have been given three
opportunities to retake the CBT test or face expulsion or exclusion from the
register.
"We have concerns that 48 individuals
already registered obtained their test results fraudulently. We will hold
hearings where an independent panel will determine whether these individuals
gained fraudulent entry to our register. If so, they are likely to be removed
from the register," stated Sutcliffe.
“We have similar fraud concerns regarding
669 applicants to the register. We are carefully reviewing each application in
accordance with our guidance on health and character. The majority of the 80
applications we have assessed thus far have been refused entry to the register,
and those individuals have the right to appeal.”
The future of the 717 nurses remains
uncertain. The GMB union is apprehensive that those denied entry to the NMC
register will be repatriated to Nigeria. The union asserted that nurses had
been "exploited" in Nigeria, urged the NMC to allow all individuals
with questionable test results the opportunity to retake the test in the UK,
and emphasized the healthcare system's need for their skills to help alleviate
the nationwide nursing shortage.
The GMB expressed concern over the cases of
two Nigerian women, both members of the union, whose applications for Nursing
and Midwifery Council (NMC) registration were denied despite their insistence
that their test results from Yunnik were genuine. Subsequently, both women were
terminated from their positions at a private care home pending clarification of
their status. They now fear deportation to Nigeria along with their families.
"The individuals in charge at this
center have exploited the aspirations of workers seeking nursing opportunities
in the UK, leaving our members in dire circumstances," remarked Louise
Gilmour, the GMB's Scotland secretary.
"While it's imperative to uphold the
profession's standards of integrity, these prospective nurses were ill-advised,
first to enroll at this center and then to provide questionable accounts of
their experiences there," she added. "They deserve another
opportunity and should be permitted to work if they successfully pass the
required tests in the UK.
“These individuals, predominantly women, have demonstrated their willingness to relocate and contribute to the healthcare and social care sectors in a nation grappling with a crisis in staff recruitment and retention.”
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has ceased utilizing 40 out of the 800 test centers globally that it previously employed, including the Yunnik center, following the exposure of fraud there.
A spokesperson from the Department of
Health and Social Care stated: "We are cognizant of the Nursing and
Midwifery Council's (NMC) investigations into fraud involving nurses who passed
their computer-based test at a center in Nigeria. We have been informed that
the NMC is implementing all required measures to safeguard the integrity of its
register and ensure patient safety."
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