Press Releases
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01/09/2022
Press Release
NHS nurse vacancies jump by 21% in a year to record level, official data shows
Responding to NHS data showing nurse vacancies have jumped to a record level, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: "Two weeks before we open our strike ballot, these stark figures reveal what is happening in England's NHS - record numbers of unfilled nurse jobs and rising fast too. Tens of thousands of experienced nurses left last year at the very moment we cannot afford to lose a single professional, and patients pay a heavy price."
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01/09/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to BMJ calculations of £2 million more per month extra energy spend for hospitals
Responding to BMJ calculations that hospitals may be forced to pay out £2 million extra a month due to the fuel price surge, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “If the new prime minister expects the NHS to pick between staff and heating bills this year, they will face a severe public backlash."
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26/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the energy price cap announcement
Responding to the energy price cap announcement, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “This latest increase in heating costs will leave many terrified about how they’ll stay warm this winter. Nursing staff I talked to this week were dreading this kind of announcement and fear a winter of impossible decisions at home."
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26/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to announcement of new surgical hubs to cut waiting lists
Responding to an announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care of new surgical hubs to cut waiting lists, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “More beds and clinics will only help patients if there are enough nursing staff to care for the people in those beds. Only yesterday figures revealed the impact of the pressures on the nursing workforce show little sign of declining.
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25/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the latest NHS England staff sickness absence data
Responding to the latest NHS England staff sickness absence data, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: "The level of pressure on nursing staff shows no sign of abating with the number of days lost to sickness amongst nursing staff remaining at similar levels to the height of the pandemic in January 2021.
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24/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to announcement that asymptomatic testing will be paused in additional settings
Responding to an announcement by the Department of Health and Social Care that asymptomatic testing for COVID will be paused, RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: "Nursing staff are only too aware of the terrible toll the failure to test can have on some of their most vulnerable patients in hospitals and across social care. Cases of COVID-19 may well be falling but this virus has still not gone away, and it is vital that there is continued vigilance to ensure patients and nursing staff are not put at risk."
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18/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the latest bed occupancy data from NHS England
RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: "When hospitals are at bursting point, the impacts echo through every stage of a health and care system that is already in crisis."
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18/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to UCAS figures showing a fall in acceptances onto nursing courses
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “To address the staffing crisis and give the kind of care patients deserve, we need these figures to look even stronger. Sadly, they have headed in the wrong direction this year."
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17/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the latest rise in inflation figures
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “Inflation now at a 40-year high, combined with decade long stagnant wage growth, will force many nursing staff to question if they can afford to stay in the profession."
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12/08/2022
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to NHS England's package of measures to boost capacity ahead of winter
Responding to NHS England's announcement of a package of measures to boost capacity ahead of winter,RCN Head of Nursing Practice, Wendy Preston, said: “Yesterday’s NHS data showed just how desperate things have got across health and social care for patients and nursing staff. Initiatives to improve patient flow and capacity are urgently needed, but the elephant in the room is being ignored."
Page last updated - 22/03/2024
