Press Releases
-
13/12/2024
Press Release
Urgent need to increase student funding, says Royal College of Nursing Wales following UCAS admission figures
UCAS figures published today show that universities in Wales have been unable to fill the Welsh government commissioned places on nursing courses and attract the number of nursing students needed.
-
12/12/2024
Press Release
Nurse universities admission figures show government NHS reforms under ‘direct threat’, says Royal College of Nursing
Executive Director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Today’s figures should ring alarm bells in government. As demand for services rises, and targets say we need hundreds of thousands of new nurses, ministers are struggling to recruit even an additional one hundred. Nurse education is not just totally broken, but a direct threat to NHS reforms."
-
12/12/2024
Press Release
Nurse shortage leaves NHS ‘woefully unprepared’ for flu crisis flooding wards, says Royal College of Nursing
RCN Executive Director for England Patricia Marquis, said: “The NHS is woefully underprepared for the crisis flooding into its wards this winter. A nursing workforce wracked by widespread vacancies will be doing its best to keep people safe, but the reality is that there are too many patients and too few beds."
-
10/12/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to publication of UK government’s NHS Pay Review Body evidence
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The government has today told nursing staff they are worth as little as £2 extra a day, less than the price of a coffee. Nursing is in crisis – there are fewer joining and too many experienced professionals leaving. This is deeply offensive to nursing staff, detrimental to their patients and contradictory to hopes of rebuilding the NHS."
-
10/12/2024
Press Release
RCN Wales Responds to Welsh Government Budget Announcement
"The government needs to be careful to address the systemic issues and not just focus on the waiting lists,” explains Helen Whyley, Executive Director RCN Wales.
-
08/12/2024
Press Release
Revising NHS workforce plans must include resolving the crisis in nursing, says Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “Revising workforce plans must include resolving the fundamental reasons why the nursing workforce is in crisis. It should be the government’s first priority and will deliver better care for millions."
-
05/12/2024
Press Release
Tackling nursing crisis crucial to achieving Prime Minister’s plan, says Royal College of Nursing
Executive Director of RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said: “To achieve his plan, the Prime Minister needs to join the dots between hitting NHS targets and solving the crisis in nursing. We deliver the vast majority of care, but our workforce is severely depleted and recruitment is collapsing."
-
05/12/2024
Press Release
Barely a spare bed in NHS hospitals, says Royal College of Nursing
Executive Director for RCN England, Patricia Marquis, said: “As the Prime Minister speaks, thousands of NHS patients needing treatment today are being cared for in corridors. He did not create this crisis, but he is now responsible for it and must start to find some answers."
-
04/12/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the Nuffield Trust report ‘Practice learning in nursing and midwifery education’
RCN UK Head of Nursing Practice Stephen Jones said: “High quality practice placements are crucial to a student nurse’s education to develop their skills and prepare them to join our brilliant profession. But as this report makes clear, an overstretched workforce and under-resourced healthcare system cannot guarantee a high-quality learning environment."
-
02/12/2024
Press Release
Failing nurse recruitment and huge rise in early leavers creating ‘perfect storm for patient safety’, warns Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: "Today’s figures are bad news for patients. Nurse recruitment is slowing, the numbers of new starters is falling and we are witnessing a devastating increase in people leaving within five years of joining."
Page last updated - 21/02/2025
