The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is consulting its staff on proposals to remove 145 posts from a total of around 1,400 as part of a restructure.
NMC, which began consulting staff last week, said around a third of the affected roles are vacant and that the changes are essential to ensure the charity is financially secure.
The charity said it expects the job cuts will help it to save £9.7m a year, when combined with £3.1m of other savings.
NMC said its income has reduced in real terms by 28% over the past decade due to a freeze on registration fees, which has led to £180m of lost revenue in that time.
Meanwhile, the charity’s workforce has doubled from 681 in 2016-2017 to around 1,400 today.
It has also spent additional funds on improvement programmes, including one launched to address its culture after a three-year review found the charity had been dogged by “claims of bullying, racism, incompetence and a dysfunctional workplace culture” for over a decade.
The charity recently recorded an income of £109m in the year to March 2025 and costs of £130m. It expects its deficit will increase to £24m this financial year.
NMC has launched a 60-day consultation period on the proposals, with an initial 30-day consultation with its recognised trade union, UNISON.
The charity said it would redeploy staff wherever possible.
CEO: ‘We must modernise’
Besides the staff cuts, the charity has proposed changes to the structure of its back office teams including the creation of a finance and transformation and technology services directorate.
Paul Rees, NMC’s chief executive and registrar, said: “The nursing and midwifery professions need a strong and independent regulator to uphold high professional standards and protect the public. To achieve this, we must ensure our financial stability and modernise the NMC.
“Along with this comes the need for changes to our organisational structure, and the difficult but necessary decision to propose a reduction in our headcount. This will enable us to make the savings we need heading into next year and beyond, as we continue to build the new NMC.
“Importantly, all of our proposals are subject to consultation with our recognised trade union and staff. We want to deliver on change in the best way we can.
“This means minimising the impact on our hard-working, dedicated people as far as possible, while meeting the clear need to secure our finances and ensure we are fit for the future.”
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