Happy New Year, colleagues and friends. I hope you had the chance for some hard-earned rest over these last couple of weeks.  Your commitment to our profession and to your patients all year round is commendable, but especially so during the festive period.  I managed to spend some time with family and as always, took the opportunity to take stock and look ahead to what I want to achieve in 2026.  

Many of you may have done the same, making new year resolutions or commitments to yourself. For me, especially in my role as your General Secretary, I made sure I spent time reflecting on the challenges and opportunities that a new year offers and how I will drive forward the RCN’s work for the benefit of you, our members, and our amazing profession.  

I am forever proud to be a registered nurse. But this year, more than ever before, we need to demonstrate to policy makers, governments and the public the real value of nursing, the difference we make to people’s lives and critical impact we have on patient safety every day.  

That value is increasingly being recognised beyond our profession. I was proud to see RCN Fellow Michelle Cox and RCN Foundation Director Deepa Korea named in the New Year Honours list - recognition that reflects Michelle’s leadership within nursing and Deepa’s vital work supporting and strengthening the nursing profession through the RCN Foundation. 

Because nursing matters. With enough nurses in a ward, on a shift, or in any care setting care is better, patients are safer and mortality is lower.  But we're working within a system which doesn't see our true value – the risk we manage, the assessing and clinical decisions we make for patients hundreds of times a day which keep them alive and well or give them a good death.  

Until governments fully recognise the contribution and role of the registered nurse, and the importance of the nursing support workforce, our profession will continue to be undervalued and underpaid.  And that is what I am determined to change. We released our report into the career progression of NHS nurses just before Christmas outlining the detailed case the RCN has been making to governments. It paints a frustrating picture.  

It’s clear in the evidence, nurses face slower progression through pay bands compared to other health care professions. Nurses across each of the four UK nations, are more than twice as likely to be working at band 5 compared with allied health professions. And we are the only profession where you could start your career at band 5 and retire at band 5. We are the only ones. Nursing is worth more. 

We need pay reform. I’ve heard from so many of you about the frustration of feeling stuck, despite your skills and dedication. For months the RCN has been making this case to the UK government, we believe there is an opportunity to create real, lasting change. And we know it's having an impact, as Wes Streeting MP directly referenced our asks at the Health and Social Care Select Committee in Westminster in December. We’ll continue to fight to see nursing properly valued this year.  

I know so many inspirational and dedicated nursing staff – so many of you doing everything you can for the good of your patients. But you are being held back by a health and care system that underinvests in nursing - restricted by the circumstances you are being forced to work under. But imagine what we could be doing, the level of care we could achieve, consistently, if the environment we were working in allowed it.  

And that’s really important to remember this year in Scotland and Wales where we have elections. They provide an opportunity to hold political parties to account and to vote for the party you think will do the most for our profession. We will be setting out the case to all political parties exactly what nursing needs ahead of the elections too. You can read our Wales manifesto in Welsh or English here. And in Scotland, our manifesto will be published early in the new year.  

We also need to be aware of the threat posed by cuts to funding for nursing education.  The proposal to cut the nursing course in Cardiff University this year was something we have been warning against for years – without proper funding, nursing courses will suffer. Like our successful fight to keep this course in Cardiff, we cannot and will not let that happen elsewhere. We’re actively speaking out against other university course closures and will continue to do so to save the future of our profession.  

I am committed to keeping investment in nursing, and safe staffing levels, high on the agenda with policy and decision makers. We know research shows that patient care is put at risk - and more patients die as a result - when there are too few registered nurses to deliver nursing care safely. The price of unsafe staffing is simply too high.   

At the end of last year, we published independent analysis on the impact of mandatory minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and safe staffing legislation. And there is a substantial and growing body of evidence demonstrating that registered nurse staffing levels have a significant impact on both patient and nurse outcomes.  

Our Nursing Workforce Academy has committed to a multi-year programme of work to improve nurse staffing through practical, long-term solutions. This analysis is another step in our journey towards ensuring that nurse safe staffing becomes a reality, not just an aspiration, in all settings where nursing care is delivered across the UK. The analysis provides further evidence that reinforces our calls to enshrine nurse-to-patient ratios in law across the UK, to radically transform care quality. In Northern Ireland we want the Safe and Effective Staffing legislation to finally move through the Northern Ireland Assembly this year, ensuring safer working conditions and better care for patients. 

We started last year with our shocking report on corridor care – and it is testament to all of your work in raising awareness that it is very much on the top of politicians’ lists to solve. Just before Christmas, the Westminster government further reiterated its commitment to eradicate corridor care on the back of our work to shine a light on the crisis, and we’re determined to hold them to account on this and ensure that concrete action is taken.  

Further scrutiny in the months ahead must reflect the realities nursing staff face every day - the risks to patient safety, the compromises being made, and the urgent need for decisive action.

The Employment Act became law in mid-December - a significant development for nursing staff and the wider health and care sector. One of the most important changes is the creation of a new negotiating body in the adult social care sector. The RCN played a crucial role in making sure the Act is as strong and effective as possible for the nursing workforce, securing key wins as the bill made its way through Parliament. We’ll continue to influence the government to keep your rights high on the agenda as the Act is implemented. We’ve updated our explainer to help you understand what the Act means for you and your rights at work. 

This year I will be leading the College to deliver work that matters for you and I hope to see as many of you as possible at RCN Congress. There are a few days left to submit your items for the agenda, so please make your voice heard. There will be further opportunities for us to engage at Joint Reps and our Activism Conferences across the UK, so I look forward to seeing our activists there. We will also make sure we update you as different areas of work progress. Our strength is in our membership – in you - and we truly value your insight and contributions. 

Happy New Year once again to you all – I look forward to working with you over the coming weeks and months as we continue to fight for the future of the nursing profession.