Press Releases
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14/02/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to The King’s Fund report ‘Making care closer home a reality'
Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “The NHS, its patients, and staff experience a drag towards the hospital. That model does not always deliver appropriate, necessary, or safe care and this report clearly demonstrates the level of aspiration required."
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12/02/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to a Press Association analysis showing a sharp increase in overseas staff working in the NHS
Royal College of Nursing General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “Ministers need to show they value nursing and provide the investment needed to deliver the workforce plan, starting with fair pay, or they risk continuing to miss their targets on cutting waiting times and leave patient care at risk.”
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08/02/2024
Press Release
Nursing union says it’s safe to bet the Prime Minister will fail on his waiting times pledge before election
Responding to the latest data showing the NHS England waiting list sitting at 7.60m, Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Patients are suffering because the Prime Minister has failed to make real progress on his waiting list pledge. At this rate, it's a safe bet that millions will still be waiting for care when the election is called."
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08/02/2024
Press Release
New data from nursing union reveals almost half of nursing staff working in GP practices received no pay rise last year, despite government promise
RCN England Director, Patricia Marquis, said: "Relations between nursing staff and the government have never been so strained. Nursing pay needs a fresh start – staff report feeling undervalued and undermined after over a decade of pay restraint, and late pay awards."
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06/02/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to new race discrimination report
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen, said: “The findings of this report should force us all to act. It’s critical that we not only talk about racism but act in a decisively anti-racist way."
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05/02/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the Times Health Commission report
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “Nurses have been warning that the NHS is on life support for years – it will never be back on stable footing unless greater value is put on staff. There’s a crisis in the recruitment and retention of registered nurses. Pay must be improved to recognise their safety-critical skills and working conditions improved – right now abuse and burnout are normalised. It’s an unacceptable disgrace."
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04/02/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) responds to the restoration of power-sharing in Northern Ireland
Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive said: “The return of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive is to be greatly welcomed. Four years after pay parity was first restored to nursing staff in Northern Ireland, the Executive must now take urgent action to restore parity once more. The past two years of political inaction has forced many to question their future in our profession, adding to chronic nursing shortages across all sectors."
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31/01/2024
Press Release
Union leader demands seismic shift on nursing pay as government resumes talks with striking doctors
Royal College of Nursing General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “Nursing staff are safety critical. Services should not run without us. But today’s poor understanding of our value leaves record jobs unfilled. Investment in nursing is investment in our population’s health. It is sound economics and what’s best for patients"
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25/01/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the latest NHS England staff sickness absence data
Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Nursing and care staff are burning out – with high rates of depression, stress, and anxiety. Staff sickness has shown little sign of improvement over the last decade - today a staggering twice as many are grappling with mental health issues than calling in sick due to cold or flu."
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17/01/2024
Press Release
Nursing union leader vows to fight for NHS on the eve of strike in Northern Ireland
On the eve of strike action in Northern Ireland, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, has given a video message to members: “Colleagues, it’s been four years since you first took to the picket lines in Northern Ireland. The first-ever nursing strike here."
Page last updated - 22/03/2024
