UNISON is urging nurses and midwives to remember to renew their registration to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) before their current registration expires.
In a change to the current process, if members miss the date their registration expires, they face being removed from the register.
From November 2015, there will be no opportunity for nurses and midwives to submit their registration documentation or pay their fee after their registration expiry date.
They must have renewed – and retained – registration before the due date or that registration will lapse.
The only way to regain access will be by making an application for readmission. This is a more complex process that can take between two and six weeks, and may incur additional costs. Nurses and midwives would be unable to practise until readmission was approved.
The NMC has said that the easiest way to maintain registration is through an NMC online account.
Those who do not yet use it have been urged to sign up for online access as soon as possible by going to nmc.org.uk/nmc-online.
Nurses and midwives will need an account for revalidation, so early sign-up will help to prepare.
The NMC will be writing to nurses and midwives who are due to renew in November 2015, giving them advance notice.
