Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with stakeholders on the potential merits of enshrining the title of Nurse in law as a protected title, requiring an individual to be registered as a Nurse with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, to legally use that title.

The protection of a professional title is a key aspect of public protection. Protecting a title provides assurance to the public that someone using that title is competent and safe to practise. Although ‘registered nurse’ is a protected title, ‘nurse’ is not a protected title.

The Department has begun discussions with the professional regulators, including the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer for England, and the Royal College of Nursing to explore the issue of protected titles as part of the ongoing Government review of professional regulation. We will consider the protection of title offences relating to registered nurses, midwives and nursing associates when bringing forward reform of the NMC’s legal framework.