The UK nursing regulator’s new interim chief executive has stepped down just four days into the job after facing widespread staff backlash over her links to a high-profile race discrimination case. Multiple staff working at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) raised concerns to its directors over the appointment of interim CEO Dawn Broderick, who was head of HR at another trust when it was found to have discriminated against a Black employee. The Independent can now reveal Ms Broderick resigned from the NMC on Monday evening.
It is the latest in a succession of controversies to hit the nursing regulator, following reports uncovered by The Independent last year. These include allegations from whistleblowers that racism within the NMC was allowing complaints against nurses to go unchecked. The organisation is set to face the results of a major review into its culture by KC Nazir Afzal and Rise Associates, commissioned following this publication’s investigations.
Staff have come forward to The Independent , warning they do not have confidence the NMC’s board will take the issue of racism seriously. Ms Broderick’s appointment as CEO was announced on Thursday, following the news that previous chief Andrea Sutcliffe was stepping down. She was previously in charge of HR at King’s College Hospital London when it was embroiled in a high-profile employment tribunal.
The trust was ordered to pay £1,000,000 to IT manager Richard Hastings in 2018 after it was found he was u.