A new year offers new opportunities for our profession

Let me start by wishing all members of the RCN a very Happy New Year. I know that for many of you the festive period will have been a busy time at work and at home. Thank you for everything you do to keep our patients safe and healthy. I do hope that you got to spend some time with your loved ones and had the opportunity to recuperate after a busy year.  

I spent the festive period looking back on a whirlwind of a year in 2024, while remembering that every year of my nursing career has been similar. And what an amazing career nursing is – it is with great pride that I lead the RCN into a new year to fight for the future of our profession.  

I am also joined in this fight by many newly elected members, following the results of the presidential and council elections. I’d like to welcome all these members as we work together on the important issues facing our profession. We are committed to gaining the respect and recognition that our nursing staff deserve.  

Winter is always a difficult time for our health and care services.  I know from decades of experience how challenging this time of year is for nursing staff and this winter may be one of our hardest yet. I was out visiting members over the festive period to hear your views first-hand, especially around trying to care for patients in corridors and other inappropriate spaces – which I believe is a much bigger issue than the public realises.  

I remain, as does the RCN, absolutely committed to improving pay and conditions for nursing staff wherever they work. Whenever I am in direct conversations with the UK government, as I was with Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, at the end of December - your stories really add power to our case.  

 I know that you still love nursing as a profession – but not the environment in which you are being asked to practice. I want to change that. Treating patients in inappropriate spaces is glaring example of a broken system. Care delivered in corridors and other non-clinical spaces is unsafe, undignified and unacceptable.

Thank you for everything that you keep on doing for your patients, in such difficult circumstances. Relying on your goodwill isn’t sustainable though. At the end of last year, I gave evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee where I made it clear that the UK government’s plan to shift away from acute settings and into community services and social care will not succeed without significant investment in nursing. 

There is a golden thread to address the issues within the health and care system – and that is the nursing workforce. Without plans for structural reform within nursing the UK government's plans, and those within the devolved nations, will remain simply that - plans. This year we will be pushing more than ever to ensure our profession gets the recognition it deserves and to ensure that structural change for nursing is realised.  

The UK government’s 10-year plan for the NHS in England is an opportunity – and the RCN will be doing everything we can to ensure that the government seizes that opportunity. You can still have your say on the 10-year plan and I urge you to do so. This year is so important to shape what the future of the nursing profession will look like – we are determined to make the voices of nursing staff heard and listened to.  

In November, we pulled out of the Pay Review Body process, alongside other unions, because it is not the route to address the current crisis. We are past the point of looking at a percentage increase in pay - fair pay must be matched by structural reform. We have asked for direct negotiations with the UK government to avoid further escalation to disputes and ballots, and Wes Streeting is fully aware of the reasons behind our position.  

In Northern Ireland, following lengthy negotiations between the Department of Health and the health trade unions, a proposed pay settlement has been tabled which we are now consulting on with eligible members. This has been a long and protracted process and, while I appreciate the effort that many people, including the Minister, have put into securing this pay offer, it still remains completely unacceptable that health care staff will have had to wait nearly a year to get their pay. We need to see an end to this cycle so that we can all get on with the essential work required to transform and mend what is currently a broken system.  

Scotland’s nursing and midwifery taskforce is due to publish its recommendations in January. This has been a key focus for us over the past year, and with the right funding and resources has the potential to deliver meaningful change for current and future nursing staff across Scotland’s health and care services.  

In Wales the focus will continue to be pursuing pay justice and pay restoration for our members. We will continue to remind the Welsh Labour government that they made a commitment to pay restoration and now need to come good on that commitment. RCN Wales has delivered its second leadership programme for nurses working in the Independent sector. We hope to increase this number next year.   

We know that significant investment in nursing is needed. We need to make sure governments across the UK are recruiting and retaining brilliant nursing staff – this is the way forward for the profession.  

As we enter 2025, I know there are challenges ahead, but I am full of optimism and hope for this amazing profession. I hope that you are too, as we need you to speak up for nursing louder than ever this year. There is a lot to look forward to, not least discussing the future of our profession at Congress 2025 in Liverpool. I hope I’ll see you there.