The Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council (UNMC) has published the names and photographs of more than 60 people it says are not licensed or authorised to practise nursing or midwifery, including student nurses who allegedly altered their results to get into training schools.
The list appeared in a Ministry of Health public notice in New Vision on Monday, October 19. In it, the Council’s Registrar warns that the people named are either not licensed or not authorised to practise as nurses and midwives. The reasons given are falsified academic documents, impersonation, and posing as trained nurses and midwives when they are not.
The Council cautioned that anyone who deals with those named on nursing and midwifery matters does so at their own risk.
Who is on the list
| Category | Number named |
|---|---|
| Permanently deregistered over falsified or altered academic and professional documents | 16 |
| Students not eligible to register because they altered results to gain admission to training schools | 15 |
| Not authorised to practise | 6 |
| Described by the Council as quacks | 22 |
Source: UNMC public notice. Counts are from the published notice.
Those named worked at, or were linked to, health facilities, drug shops, clinics and training institutions across the country, from Kampala and Wakiso to Gulu, Mbale, Jinja, Luwero and Bushenyi. Some are listed as working outside Uganda.
The notice also names two people who are authorised to practise in specific cadres.
Altered results catch up with students
Fifteen of those named are student nurses and midwives. The Council says they will not be registered, or allowed to practise, because they altered their results to secure admission to nursing and midwifery training institutions.
The students are listed against schools and facilities including the Lubega Institute of Nursing and Medical Science, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, Butabika School of Psychiatric Nursing, Jinja and Rakai schools of nursing and midwifery, and the International Institute of Health Sciences in Jinja.
The notice means that even after completing their training, these students cannot be enrolled on the Council’s register, which is required before anyone can legally practise.
How to check a nurse or midwife
The Council has asked the public to contact it for more details. Before seeking care from someone presenting themselves as a nurse or midwife, especially at clinics and drug shops, patients can ask to see a valid UNMC practising licence and confirm it with the Council.
Students applying to nursing and midwifery schools are also reminded that the Council checks academic documents at registration, and altered results can end a career before it starts.
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