‘Without nursing, you cannot succeed’, RCN General Secretary tells MPs

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger appeared in Parliament in front of the Health and Social Care Select Committee (HSCSC) to talk about nursing and its vital role in the future of the NHS, covering issues including pay and how to attract and keep nursing staff.

Nicola told MPs: “Without nursing, whatever the government wants to achieve, it will not succeed. That’s what we want to talk about – how do we recruit and retain the brilliant nursing staff we need.”

Nicola appeared before the cross-party group in Westminster alongside Professor Kamila Hawthorne, Chair of the Royal College of GPs, and Dr Beccy Baird, a senior fellow at the King's Fund.

The HSCSC – whose role is to scrutinise the work of the Department of Health and Social Care – wanted to hear from the panel on issues relating to the UK government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, including proposals on workforce, structures and shifting care from hospitals out into the community.

The first question was about the RCN’s response to the government’s evidence to the Pay Review Body for the 2025/26 pay round, where a pay increase in the region of 2.8% for nursing staff in England was suggested.

Nicola repeated our disappointment at this figure. Stressing that the RCN supports reforms to encourage a shift from hospital into care in local communities, she was clear that the golden thread running through all the proposed improvements is a properly paid and supported health workforce – and the largest workforce is nursing. 

When asked about industrial action, Nicola reiterated that this is only taken as a last resort. She underlined that for nursing staff, this is not simply a debate around a percentage pay rise, but about the need for fundamental reform that will address the many challenges the profession faces.

Nicola also highlighted general practice nursing staff, who face inferior pay and conditions compared with NHS colleagues.

She characterised action and commitment from government as essential to give nursing staff some hope, especially going into another difficult winter. Listing loan forgiveness and better incentives for committing to a career of patient-facing care, Nicola called for tangible improvements that nursing staff need to see now.

Following this session, the committee will be hearing evidence from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting.