Fake nurse crackdown to boost public safety

Anyone misleading the public and describing themselves as a nurse without the relevant qualifications and registration will be committing a crime, under new measures announced by the government to protect the title ‘nurse’ in law. 

The move will help to boost protections and safety for both patients and staff, driving up standards and improving patient experience across the NHS through the government’s Plan for Change. 

Currently, anyone – including those struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for serious misconduct or criminal convictions – can call themselves a nurse. This can result in the public thinking they’re getting advice and care from an expert professional like a nurse when they aren’t.   

Previous reported examples of the job title being misused include someone calling herself a nurse at a large public event after being struck off and another reportedly masquerading as an aesthetic nurse.

There will be exemptions for relevant professions like veterinary nurse, dental nurse and nursery nurse, where the title ‘nurse’ is legitimately used. 

The government is listening to nurses and recognises they are the backbone of the NHS, and today’s announcement follows campaigning by unions for the government to act on the issue, as well as by Dawn Butler MP who introduced a Ten-Minute Rule Bill earlier this year to protect the title ‘nurse’.  

Paul Rees MBE, Interim Chief Executive and Registrar at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said:

"The public should always feel confident that anyone using the title ‘nurse’ is a registered professional with all the safeguards that brings.

We look forward to working with the government and our stakeholders to deliver on it. In the meantime, it is already an offence for somebody to hold themselves out as a registered nurse when they are not."

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Source: Department of Health and Social Care, 12 May 2025