Press Releases
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28/12/2023
Press Release
Nursing union leader reflects on first UK-wide strike and year ahead
The anger and optimism of the year’s nursing strikes resulted in only modest progress as politicians did enough to ‘save their own skins, not the revolution needed’, Pat Cullen will say.
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27/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to Liberal Democrats' analysis showing hospital car parking fees have soared by 50%
Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “For nursing staff and support workers, the soaring cost of parking takes too much of their low wage. Nurses work around the clock to be there for their patients – and working odd shift times or in difficult locations means public transport is not always possible. District nurses even pay their own fuel costs to travel to patients."
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21/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to NHS England Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Report
Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “Nursing staff are being stretched to their limit, and the public deserves better care. Bed occupancy is at its highest level this year, and is now higher than this time last year. This will inevitably lead to unsafe and undignified patient care. In some trusts, one nurse could be left caring for 10, 15, or more patients at a time, and patients are being treated in the back of ambulances, in corridors, and on chairs and trolleys."
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20/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the Pay Review Body letter
Royal College of Nursing General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “This letter is extremely late and it confirms the next pay award will be late too. There is no evidence that the government has honoured its commitment to improve how the process works despite a consultation earlier this year. Nursing staff received the lowest pay award in the public sector for 2023/24 - we end the year in formal dispute with ministers and campaigning for a pay rise that addresses the staffing crisis in the NHS."
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18/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing comments on Panorama programme ‘Care Workers Under Pressure’
Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “The findings of this investigation are deeply disturbing and, tragically, far from unique. There is modern slavery operating within our care system and it needs taking out root and branch."
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15/12/2023
Press Release
Public still back nurses striking one year on from historic action
One year on from nursing staff taking unprecedented strike action – and with a general election on the horizon – a new poll for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reveals unwavering public support for nursing staff taking industrial action in 2024.
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14/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to NHS England waiting list data
RCN Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “With more than one in 10 people on the NHS waiting list, there is still no room at the inn. NHS capacity is at breaking point as patients are treated in corridors and backed up in ambulances. It’s undignified, unsafe, and behind the statistics are patients who will be suffering this Christmas."
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07/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the UCAS End of Cycle data
Royal College of Nursing Deputy Chief Nurse Dr Nichola Ashby said: “The government’s NHS Long Term Workforce Plan is falling off course before it’s even begun. For the plan to succeed, we need to see significant increases in the numbers choosing to study nursing and we’re going in the wrong direction."
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07/12/2023
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the latest NHS England Urgent and Emergency Care Daily Situation Report
Royal College of Nursing Director for England, Patricia Marquis, said: “The NHS is already under incredible pressure even before the worst of winter begins to bite. Beds are full, a record number of patients are sitting on waiting lists, and thousands are stuck in hospital due to inadequate social care. This all points to a system in extremely poor health."
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06/12/2023
Press Response
RCN Wales responds to Healthcare Inspectorate Wales annual report
It’s crucial now that Welsh government see that all roads lead back to safe staffing in the fight to save the NHS
Page last updated - 21/02/2025
