Hundreds of National Health Service (NHS) frontline workers are under investigation for their involvement in an alleged “industrial-scale” qualifications fraud.

Over 700 nurses are implicated in a potential scandal, raising concerns from a former head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) about potential risks to NHS patients.

The fraud reportedly revolves around proxies impersonating nurses and taking a crucial test in Nigeria, required for registration and employment in the UK.

Expressing concern, Peter Carter, former Chief Executive of the RCN and ex-chair of three NHS trusts, stated, “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 commended the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for its proactive measures against those implicated.

He also emphasized the importance of safeguarding the quality of care, patient safety, and the professional reputation of nurses.

Carter stressed the necessity of ensuring that nurses arriving to work in the UK are qualified to undertake their responsibilities.

NMC Pursuing More Assertive Measures

Forty-eight of the nurses are currently employed within the NHS as registered nurses since the NMC lacks the authority to revoke their registration from its database.

The NMC has instructed them to retake the test to demonstrate that their skills meet the standards required by the NHS, but it lacks the power to suspend them in the meantime.

The 48 individuals are scheduled for individual hearings, beginning in March.

During these hearings, they will be required to clarify the process through which they allegedly completed and passed the computer-based test (CBT) assessing numeracy and clinical knowledge at the Yunnik test center in Ibadan.

The unusually fast completion times recorded have raised suspicions, as they are among the quickest observed by the nursing regulator.

However, the NMC is pursuing more assertive measures with a second group of Nigerian healthcare professionals totaling 669 individuals. This batch’s test results have been determined to have been fraudulently obtained.

It’s reported that the majority of them have already arrived in the UK.

However, they are in a different position to the 48 individuals who are believed to be primarily employed as healthcare assistants in the NHS and care homes.

This is attributed to the NMC’s withholding of approval for their registrations, as it continues to investigate pervasive impersonation issues at the Yunnik test center.

Out of the 669 candidates seeking employment, nearly 80 nurses have applied for the NMC register after completing the new CBT test.

Yet, the majority of these applicants have been denied enrollment by the nursing regulatory body due to serious concerns about their integrity and trustworthiness.

Due to the deception at Yunnik, the NMC has invalidated the CBT test results of 1,955 Nigerian-trained health professionals.

Despite the regulator acknowledging it cannot conclusively prove fraud in 1,238 cases, all individuals are granted three opportunities to retake the CBT test. Failure to do so may result in expulsion or exclusion from the register.

Andrea Sutcliffe said, “There are 669 applicants to the register about whom we have the same fraud concerns. We’re reviewing each application carefully in line with our guidance on health and character. We’ve refused entry to the register for the vast majority of the 80 applications we’ve considered so far, and those individuals can appeal.”

The fate of the 717 nurses is currently uncertain. The GMB union is concerned that those not accepted onto the NMC register may be sent back to Nigeria.

They highlight the exploitation of nurses in Nigeria and advocate for all individuals with questionable test results to be allowed to retake the exam in the UK. The union emphasizes the significance of their skills in addressing the UK’s widespread nursing shortage.