Press Releases
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14/05/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to the latest Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) report on NHS spending during the last Parliament
Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œWhen investment in the NHS fails to meet demand, it is patients who suffer greatly ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥“ even paying the highest price ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥“ and, as nursing staff, we are left to try to pick up the pieces."
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09/05/2024
Press Release
Patients suffering as prime minister fails to tackle waiting list crisis, RCN warns, as new analysis reveals decade of misery
The prime minister has been warned that patients are being failed by his inability to tackle the waiting list crisis, as new RCN analysis of NHS England data reveals a decade of growing misery and decline for patients.
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30/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to proposed update to NHS Constitution for England
Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN Chief Nursing Officer and Deputy Chief Executive said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œPatients are already able to request intimate care from a staff member of the same sex, but in an NHS missing tens of thousands of nursing staff it is nigh-on impossible to accommodate with any consistency. ItÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™s also important to recognise that nursing staff treat all patients with the utmost respect and professionalism, no matter their gender."
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25/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to Liberal Democrats figures showing that elderly patients waiting over five days on hospital trolleys in A&E
Professor Nicola Ranger, RCN Chief Nursing Officer and Deputy Chief Executive, said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œBehind these figures are peopleÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™s parents and grandparents, some of societyÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™s most vulnerable who weÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™d expect to be treated with the upmost dignity. The bleak reality is that those who should be given the greatest care are deteriorating whilst left on chairs and trolleys in corridors, cupboards and side rooms for hours on end."
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25/04/2024
Press Release
NHS sickness data shows average nurse took entire week off sick last year due to stress-related illness
Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œDangerous stress levels have become normalised inside an NHS which is unable to cope with demand. Chronic workforce shortages are putting nurses under unbearable pressure, unable to deliver the high-quality care they were trained to."
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23/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to passing of Rwanda Bill
Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œThe Rwanda Bill is a deeply inhumane piece of legislation which represents a significant backward step in asylum and human rights policy."
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19/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to prime minister's 'sicknote culture' speech
Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œNursing staff are the largest single workforce in health and care, but they themselves are suffering from increasingly poor long-term health. The prime ministerÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™s overtures about ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥˜sicknote cultureÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™ will be deeply offensive to a profession hit hard by long COVID and a spiralling mental health crisis. Issues of population health are not ones that a government can simply instruct away."
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17/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to Liberal Democrat research on delayed discharges from hospital
Patricia Marquis, Executive Director of RCN England, said ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œNobody should stay in hospital longer than they need to, but every day thousands remain on wards simply because the NHS canÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™t discharge them to where they can receive more appropriate care. This adds pressure across hospitals leaving patients waiting hours to be admitted and others being treated in corridors, doorways, and store cupboards."
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17/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to NHS Charities Together survey findings
Responding to the NHS Charities Together finding that more than three in four NHS workers have experienced mental health issues, RCN Head of Nursing Practice and Professional Lead for Mental Health Stephen Jones said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œThese findings highlight just how demoralised and burnt out NHS workers really are. Nursing staff go to work to care for their patients but are being emotionally and physically pushed to the edge."
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17/04/2024
Press Release
ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥ responds to Supreme Court ruling that UK trade union law breaches the ECHR
RCN Director of Legal and Member Relations, Joanne Galbraith-Marten, said: ÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥œTodayÃÛÌÒÖ±²¥™s ruling is welcome news for workers as the Supreme Court recognised that our domestic legislation is not compatible with article 11 of the ECHR given the lack of protection for detriment short of dismissal in respect of those taking part in organising industrial action."
Page last updated - 23/09/2024