After the sun we’ve enjoyed early in the week, it’s a bit wet today in Glasgow but our spirits are high. I love getting here early and welcome all delegates as they arrive, especially our South West members who are representing the region so well.
The hall is buzzing as we start the first debate which is on a very topical subject: ‘ethical overseas recruitment', a resolution to lobby employers to formulate HR policies for ethical overseas recruitment. We enjoyed an excellent debate with 50 members in the queue to speak on this important subject of global recruitment to the UK, and how ethical that recruitment is for some areas of the globe. We heard from internationally recruited nurses who feel that agencies mislead nurses with promises they cannot fulfil, without providing a true picture of the true costs of living in the UK. It was a very passionate debate with excellent speakers and Congress passed the resolution.
Today one of our retired members took a moment to thank delegates for the kindness she’d been shown during her Congress. Last week she'd had a fall which meant that standing for too long is painful. She was touched by the kindness of others as she had been encouraged to go to the front of queues to help her. This compassion makes the Congress experience special and that’s what nursing and health care is about - having a heart.
The second debate was on workforce. Another excellent discussion about how the RCN can influence health and social sector employers to shift their culture of managing their nursing workforce as a cost centre rather than the core service delivering the key component of their business.
During breaks from debate members are able to view the exhibition, attend learning events but importantly they are able to network, making new connections to share ideas and forging alliances in nursing across sectors and specialties. For the second part of the morning we then continued with a resolution on ‘Agenda for Change’, the NHS terms and conditions. The ask is that RCN Congress calls on RCN Council to conduct an immediate review of Agenda for Change to establish whether it is fit for purpose. There was a lot of discussion on this point and resulted in a long queue to speak. The resolution was passed.
We then had the matter for discussion: ‘Access to care’, highlighting the difficulties that transgender, gender non-binary and gender diverse individuals can face in accessing care and treatment. This was a powerful and emotional debate during which members shared their personal experiences and those of friends and colleagues. Congress continues apace, debating an agenda proposed by members through branches and forums. The energy in the hall is amazing today and I look forward to keeping you updated.
We have so many debates to get through as we conclude Congress today and will update further but you can watch debates online and I would urge you all to join us at #RCN23 in Brighton next year. Come and have your say about nursing.
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