Today is world patient safety day and nothing is more likely to affect the safety of our patients than poor regulation.

We know that whistleblowers are more likely to get referred to their regulator than have their issues dealt with appropriately. These whistleblowers will be raising concerns about issues affecting patient safety.

Many of our members have raised concerns in the workplace about patient care or potential workplace hazards - this has then led to a referral to the NMC.

Currently the NMC ask each registrant if they have been a whistleblower in their initial assessment. They also look into context around the referral to gain a picture of the climate that registrant has been working in. Yet to date none of our members who have raised these contributing factors have felt they have been taken seriously by the NMC and when mentioning whistleblowing have not been offered any "protection". Instead they have been made to feel that by offering this contextual background they are trying to avoid responsibility for the potential regulatory concerns which is far from the case.

The culture needs to change

Our regulator needs to step up and lead by example - supporting and mentoring our workforce rather than adding to this patient safety issue.