In response to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calling a general election, Professor Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, is asking members to stay active and engaged in this election.
She said: “General elections are our greatest democratic exercise, and would-be MPs will need to earn the nursing vote in the coming weeks.
“Candidates and canvassers will ask for your support, and you must challenge them to show you their plans for nursing and where you work.
“Together, we must push for firm commitments from all parties – things have got to change. Your patients need safer care, and you need fairer treatment – and that must start with pay. All of these issues must be central to the election debate in the coming weeks.
“In the almost 5 years since the last election, a global pandemic and repeated NHS and social care crises have exposed the frailties in our most important services.
“I’ve sent a clear message to all party leaders tonight: do not make the NHS and social care a political football.
“But don’t think you can get by on just platitudes either. For voters, investment in health and care services is the number one priority. They know, like we do, that it is fundamental to securing a healthy society and economy. Politicians must now show they have the answers to health and care workforce shortages and poor population health.”
