More than 500 Nigerian midwives and nurses working in the UK could be struck off following a probe into a test centre in Nigeria.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council said the registrations of those who passed exams at the centre could be ‘fraudulent or incorrect’.
An organisation called Pearson VUE, which runs the CBT programme on the NMC’s behalf recently alerted the regulator to ‘anomalous data’ at one of its third-party CBT test centres in Ibadan, Nigeria.
According to Daily Mail, Pearson VUE stopped testing at this centre immediately.
A total of 512 people on the NMC register, around 5 percent of all on the register who qualified in Nigeria took their CBT at the test centre. The NMC is now writing to them to set out what has happened and to tell them they are opening cases ‘to determine whether or not they gained fraudulent or incorrect entry to the register’.
It added that there are more people who have applied to join the register after passing their exam at the centre but have yet to be added to it. They have had their applications paused and are being invited to retake the test.
The NMC said: ‘Our paramount concern is to maintain the integrity of the register to protect the public.
‘At the same time, it’s critical we approach any investigations about individuals objectively and transparently, avoiding any unfair discrimination.
‘It’s also important to remember that we’ve not yet made any determinations about individuals.
‘Pearson VUE has reviewed all data relating to the NMC’s CBT from every test site globally, and there is no evidence of similar activity at any other site.’
Andrea Sutcliffe, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, said: ‘Data from one test site in Nigeria is unusual and concerning.
“We have regulatory processes which we will now follow, and if necessary, we can refuse registration or remove people from our register, to protect the public and people who use health and care services.
“We know the public and people who use services may find this worrying.
“This affects just over 500 out of the 771,445 professionals on our register.
“They will all have passed the practical test in this country before they were accepted onto the register and to date no concerns have been referred to us about their fitness to practise.
“We should remember that thousands of nurses and midwives who were educated overseas have safely joined our register recently and continue to provide safe, effective and kind care across the UK.”
To make sure internationally educated professionals have the right knowledge and skills to provide high-quality care in the UK, they must take a two-part test of competence before joining the NMC register – a computer-based test (CBT) usually sat in their home country, and a practical test (OSCE) in the UK.
The CBT covers numeracy, including questions on drug dosage, as well as clinical questions, such as what health problems patients with diabetes are vulnerable to suffering from.
The NMC uses a Test of Competence (ToC) to assess the skills and knowledge of people applying to join our register from overseas.
This has two main parts: a multiple-choice computer-based test known as the CBT which applicants usually sit in their home country; and a practical test known as the OSCE which people take in the UK.
A company called Pearson VUE runs the CBT. They have been the NMC’s test provider since 2014 when the test was introduced.
A total of 1,970 candidates took their CBT at this centre, of whom 512 are on the NMC register.
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