Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM)

Tuesday 23 April 4.30pm
Main Hall, Arena and Conference Centre, Liverpool

EGM result

Members voted to authorise RCN Council to withdraw the organisation from membership of the International Council of Nurses (ICN) at the Extraordinary General Meeting in Liverpool. The resolution was passed with 91.7 per cent of the vote.

The result and full wording of the resolution is below.

Resolution: To authorise RCN Council to withdraw the RCN from membership of the ICN.
Votes for: 539 (91.7 per cent)
Votes against: 49 (8.3 per cent)

Now RCN Council has been authorised to withdraw from the ICN, it will discuss next steps as a matter of urgency and report back to members. The debate will be reported more fully in the next issue of RCN Bulletin, due out on 1 May.

Notice and agenda

At its meeting on 23 January 2013 RCN Council called an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss to decide whether to continue the RCN’s membership of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). At its meeting in March, Council decided to ask members at the EGM to authorise withdrawal from ICN.

The meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 April at 4.30pm in the Main Hall, Arena and Conference Centre, Liverpool.

Agenda for the meeting

4.30pm
Welcome and introductions from Andrea Spyropoulos, RCN President, chair of the meeting

4.35pm
Presentation on the context and background to the RCN’s membership of the International Council of Nurses
Professor Kath McCourt CBE FRCN, Chair of RCN Council
Dr Peter Carter OBE, Chief Executive & General Secretary

4.50pm
Discussion and questions

5.20pm
Vote on the following resolution
To authorise RCN Council to withdraw the RCN from membership of the International Council of Nurses.

Why we have called this EGM

Since 2007 we have been in discussion with the International Council of Nurses (ICN), a federation of 130 membership organisations, about the level of fees that we pay. Along with other member associations, we have also been pressing for ICN to become more fit for purpose to meet the global health challenges facing nursing now and in the future. 

Fees have been rising because of exchange rate fluctuations and because ICN calculates fees on the number of nurse members in the representative organisation of each country. This means our fees represent 16 per cent of the overall ICN subscription income, i.e. over half a million pounds annually. We believe this is unsustainable and inequitable.

We have now been working with ICN for over five years to find a solution. We have already taken steps to reduce the fees we pay and have pushed for an alternative fees model.

Current discussions with ICN will conclude at the ICN’s Council of National Representatives meeting in May. To date there has been only very limited progress in agreeing a new fees model. It is for this reason that at the EGM we will be asking you to authorise Council to make the decision to withdraw the RCN from membership of ICN.

The RCN is committed to working with international partners to influence on behalf of the UK nursing workforce and nursing internationally, while delivering good value for members. You can be reassured that even if a decision is made to withdraw from membership of the ICN, the RCN is fully committed to working with international partners on issues of common interest to nursing at home and abroad.  

Professor Kath McCourt CBE FRCN
Chair of RCN Council and Chair of the RCN International Committee

Attending the meeting

The EGM will start at 4.30pm. Please ensure you arrive promptly. Members may sit anywhere in the hall for the meeting.

In accordance with the Standing Orders, all members at the meeting may take part in the vote which will be by show of hands. Council has also agreed that members unable to attend the meeting may appoint a proxy to vote on their behalf in the event of a poll. (See EGM Q&A)

Members may submit questions in advance of the meeting by emailing governance.support@rcn.org.uk