The RCN’s evidence at the COVID-19 Inquiry earlier this week was a sobering reminder of the impact of the pandemic on patients, and on the nursing workforce.
I vividly remember leading 7,000 nurses and midwives through the pandemic at King’s College Hospital. It had a profound impact on me - nursing staff who worked during the pandemic will never forget what we did and what we saw. Nursing made a real sacrifice.
This inquiry is an important opportunity for nursing staff to be heard, and listened to, in a way that we weren’t during the pandemic itself. We are experts, but we are not always treated as such.
The RCN’s Rose Gallagher MBE told the inquiry that as the largest part of the workforce, using the most PPE, we weren’t engaged with. In fact, warnings from the nursing profession about the airborne transmission of COVID-19 were ignored for over a year by the UK government. This failure ultimately cost nursing professionals their health, livelihoods and some even their lives.
We want lessons to be learned from the pandemic, and to lead to systemic change. Please take the opportunity to have your voice heard and share your experience of working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with . There’s also a nation-specific inquiry happening in Scotland, which I’d encourage all members working in Scotland to .
The inquiry also highlights another example of our profession not being understood, not being seen or heard, and not being rewarded for its expertise. It’s a theme that has come through loud and clear in the recent NHS pay consultations in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as the work in Northern Ireland to secure a pay award for 2024/25.
We announced earlier this week that RCN members working for the NHS in Wales have overwhelmingly voted to reject the 2024/25 pay award from the Welsh government. It is vital to value nursing staff for the skilled, safety-critical roles they fulfil if our health service is ever to recruit and retain the nursing staff needed to fill tens of thousands of vacant jobs and to give people the care they deserve.
On the subject of recognising and valuing our profession, nominations are now open for the 2025 RCN Awards.
Celebrating our profession is something that we don’t do enough, and the RCN Awards are a wonderful opportunity to do just that – to celebrate the extraordinary dedication, skill and passion that our members bring to the nursing profession and our College. Please make the most of your chance to nominate outstanding individuals and recognise their excellence.
This month we also celebrate Nursing Support Workers’ Day and the vital contribution nursing support workers make to patients in health and social care - they are the bedrock of our wards, clinics and community teams. I’m really pleased that this year’s theme is the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion giving us a chance to shine a light on the diversity of nursing support workers as individuals.
I am also looking forward to speaking at our Nursing Support Worker Conference at RCN HQ on 23 November. It’s free to attend, so please book your place, and I look forward to seeing you there.
I vividly remember leading 7,000 nurses and midwives through the pandemic at King’s College Hospital. It had a profound impact on me - nursing staff who worked during the pandemic will never forget what we did and what we saw. Nursing made a real sacrifice.
This inquiry is an important opportunity for nursing staff to be heard, and listened to, in a way that we weren’t during the pandemic itself. We are experts, but we are not always treated as such.
The RCN’s Rose Gallagher MBE told the inquiry that as the largest part of the workforce, using the most PPE, we weren’t engaged with. In fact, warnings from the nursing profession about the airborne transmission of COVID-19 were ignored for over a year by the UK government. This failure ultimately cost nursing professionals their health, livelihoods and some even their lives.
We want lessons to be learned from the pandemic, and to lead to systemic change. Please take the opportunity to have your voice heard and share your experience of working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with . There’s also a nation-specific inquiry happening in Scotland, which I’d encourage all members working in Scotland to .
The inquiry also highlights another example of our profession not being understood, not being seen or heard, and not being rewarded for its expertise. It’s a theme that has come through loud and clear in the recent NHS pay consultations in England, Scotland and Wales, as well as the work in Northern Ireland to secure a pay award for 2024/25.
We announced earlier this week that RCN members working for the NHS in Wales have overwhelmingly voted to reject the 2024/25 pay award from the Welsh government. It is vital to value nursing staff for the skilled, safety-critical roles they fulfil if our health service is ever to recruit and retain the nursing staff needed to fill tens of thousands of vacant jobs and to give people the care they deserve.
On the subject of recognising and valuing our profession, nominations are now open for the 2025 RCN Awards.
Celebrating our profession is something that we don’t do enough, and the RCN Awards are a wonderful opportunity to do just that – to celebrate the extraordinary dedication, skill and passion that our members bring to the nursing profession and our College. Please make the most of your chance to nominate outstanding individuals and recognise their excellence.
This month we also celebrate Nursing Support Workers’ Day and the vital contribution nursing support workers make to patients in health and social care - they are the bedrock of our wards, clinics and community teams. I’m really pleased that this year’s theme is the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion giving us a chance to shine a light on the diversity of nursing support workers as individuals.
I am also looking forward to speaking at our Nursing Support Worker Conference at RCN HQ on 23 November. It’s free to attend, so please book your place, and I look forward to seeing you there.
