No primary care locations were included in the NMC's first set of pilots for its new model of revalidation.
No primary care locations were included in the NMC's first set of pilots for its new model of revalidation.
These are due to be announced later in the year alongside those in social care, self-employed settings and the independent sector.
The organisations participating in the first set of pilots are Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Mersey Care NHS Trust, NHS Tayside (and local partners), Public Health England, and Western Health and Social Care Trust.
Participants are being sought from the nurses and midwives employed by these organisations to pilot the revalidation model. This will help the NMC refine its workability and make any improvements before it is introduced at the end of 2015.
Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the RCN, said: 'It is important that these pilots reflect the wide range of settings in which nurses work, including primary care, the community, and those working outside the public sector, and the next pilot announcements should reflect this.'
The NHS Employers organisation agreed. Sue Covill, director of employment services, said: 'Having only five NHS organisations take part, from across all parts of the UK, restricts the ability to extract and share learning and build momentum across the system- all of which are essential ingredients for a successful rollout of revalidation.
'We are pleased to see that further sites are to be announced next month to ensure that the pilots cover all settings and circumstances in which registrants practice but we would urge the NMC to consider extending the number of NHS pilots and we would be happy to facilitate discussions with employers for this to happen quickly.'
However, a spokesperson from the NMC said a date had not been set for further pilots, just that they would happen this year. They said the NMC is still in talks with employers that it wants to work with.
Jackie Smith, the chief executive of the NMC, said: 'Revalidation is an important system of regular checks to make sure that nurses and midwives are up to date and fit to practice throughout their careers.
'The people who help us pilot the system of revalidation have an essential role to play in developing this new system, which will be the biggest change to the way nurses and midwives are regulated in decades.'
Revalidation will require nurses and midwives to confirm to the NMC that they are up to date and fit to practice every three years, through third-party feedback.