Regulator will also postpone fitness to practise cases and encourage retired and student midwives to join midwifery workforce.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has announced that it is extending the revalidation period for all currently registered midwives.
From this month, midwives will have an additional three months from their current revalidation date to complete their submission.
The change is subject to review, as the regulator seeks further flexibility from government around revalidation deadlines.
Additionally the NMC will postpone fitness to practise hearings and no new ones will be scheduled until further notice, though investigations will continue in cases relating to immediate risk.
Retired and student midwives are also being encouraged to join the midwifery workforce and undertake paid work in supporting roles to help to help tackle staff shortages caused by the pandemic. A temporary emergency register has been set up to allow midwives who have retired or are working elsewhere to return to the profession.
The moves come in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the regulators’ need to prioritise ‘core regulatory functions’ to ensure they continue to regulate nurses and midwives effectively. As a consequence some non-core services may now be modified or stopped altogether.
NMC chief executive Andrea Sutcliffe said:
“The NMC will be affected by reductions in our capacity as our colleagues may be ill, have to self-isolate or care for others.
“It is therefore important that we prioritise the work we do to protect the public and promote public confidence in nursing and midwifery.
“We also need to recognise the impact of government guidance to minimise the spread of the virus and the incredible pressure people who work with us are under.”
With the increased pressure and stress on the maternity workforce caused by the Coronavirus, the cancellation of events and the necessity to reduce all unnecessary physical contact for the foreseeable future, fulfilling CPD requirements is going to be tough for midwives.
Here at MATFLIX we are doing everything we can to expand our portfolio of video boxsets as rapidly as possible offering midwives everywhere the opportunity to fulfil their revalidation requirements online and share the knowledge and expertise of our speakers.
