In five days, we will have a new prime minister. I will fight hard to make sure all of your concerns – personal and professional – are the top of the to-do list for Truss or Sunak.
I’m spending this week on the road again, meeting so many of you in your workplaces. Thank you for the warm welcome you’re giving me and for sharing your stories on what life is like right now. At work, the pressure is intense. At home, it feels no easier thanks to the rising cost of living.
Whether it is Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak, the first thing they must do is urgently address the nursing workforce shortage and the cost of living crisis by awarding nursing staff an above-inflation pay increase. The new prime minister can and must act fast with extra investment for a fair pay award.
If we needed another reminder of what’s at stake, today new figures show there has been a record jump in nursing vacancies in the NHS in England, 21% in a year.
I’ve been visiting NHS workplaces in the Midlands this week, following meeting members in London and the south-east last week - encouraging members to get ballot ready ahead of the biggest ever nursing strike ballot opening across the UK on 15 September.
It has been an honour to meet hundreds of our members and have the opportunity to talk to you about your experiences – how you continue to strive to provide the best care you can despite working in chronically understaffed settings. Without a clear workforce strategy from governments to increase numbers of nursing staff, based on patient need now and in the future, you are forced to carry the heavy burden of care left undone on your shoulders.
We all came into nursing to care and help others – but the way our profession is being treated by governments is inhumane. We are highly-skilled, safety-critical professionals – but all too often you’re left feeling like you’ve let your patients down. The emotional toil on you is why so many nursing staff leave our great profession.
Our NHS pay ballot opens on 15 September and we will be encouraging our members to vote yes to strike action. This is not a decision that any member of nursing staff will take lightly – but we must take action for our patients, our profession and ourselves. We have been left with no alternative – our warnings have not been heeded by those in power.
Governments need to give something back to nursing staff, not just expecting us to carry on as service pressures build to unsustainable levels – and that starts with an above-inflation pay rise that goes some way to make up for a decade of underpayment. Check your details now and make sure we will be able to send you your postal ballot, if you are eligible to take part, after 15 September.
I will be visiting workplaces across the UK over the coming weeks but staff and elected members in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are also meeting with our members in NHS workplaces and answering their questions about the upcoming ballots. Last week, we took our campaign van to constituency offices of Members of the Senedd and finished outside the office of Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales. We’re also encouraging our members in Scotland to join the Scottish TUC Scotland Demands a Pay Rise march and rally at the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 8 September, alongside our sister trade unions. Find out how you can take part.
Finally, today we’ve launched a survey to find out the priorities you’d like the RCN to focus on over the next five years, and the key nursing issues for the upcoming COVID-19 Public Inquiries. Please complete the survey before 11 September to make your voice heard.
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