General Nursing Council for England and Wales: Registration: Computerised Register...

Prints on papers and films on fiche of the General Nursing Council's register and rolls, and lists of the different categories of nurses.

The main document in this series is a laser print from the computer tape containing the names of those nurses still on the register and roll in 1983, from the opening of the register on 30 September 1921 to the dissolution of the GNC at close of business on 30 June 1983. It does not include the list of nurses and it does not contain the names of nurses:

• known to be dead
• removed by order of the Disciplinary Committee, who might be restored later
• who failed to pay the consolidated retention fee, who might be re-included later
• who were enrolled by virtue of having passed the final practical examination for registration (enrolment by direct entry), or who were later registered and had allowed their enrolment to lapse. This occurred from 1969 onwards.

Also included in this series are three sets of microfiche (DT12/24-26) produced by the batch maintenance computer system. Under this system, up-dating of records was managed by sending a batch of information on changes and additions to the computer bureau and receiving in return, nine times a year, an up-dated microfiche. The microfiche in this series are the last silver halide masters to be produced (DT12/25-26) and the earliest surviving diazo print (DT12/24). They contain information, such as full name and training school, not found in the print-out.

The series is arranged by part of Register or Roll. The names are arranged alphabetically by surname and initials. No account is taken of conventions; for example, Abad - Altares comes before A' Court, while MacKenzie and McKenzie are separated by names from Mackerell through Mann and Mbuya to McKensey.

Style, method of entry, registration or enrolment number and date of registration or enrolment are also shown. In the original systems specification, the names of nurses with the same surname and initials were to be arranged by registration number, but in this print-out they are listed at random; the entire set of identical names must therefore be checked when searching for a particular nurse which may involve checking two volumes (in the case of a registered general nurse called E Fitzgerald or A E Lee for example).

Due to errors in programming, punching and checking, several entries at the beginning and end of five out of eight parts are defective.

Topics

Art, architecture and design

Nursing

Computing

Since 1973 the register and roll of nurses has been stored on magnetic tape in a computer bureau, backed up by a microfilm jacket system containing personal details of each nurse. This system was taken over by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting (UKCC) in 1983.