I know that pay remains an issue for all our members, and last week RCN Northern Ireland opened a ballot for industrial action and strike action among nursing staff employed in Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, following the continued failure to deliver the 2026/27 pay award for staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions. 

While health care workers in England and Wales have already received the award, nursing staff in Northern Ireland are still waiting for confirmation of when, or if, the award will be implemented.

Every day without their annual pay award increases financial pressure on nursing staff and their families. We were assured that this situation would never happen to members in Northern Ireland again - yet here we are. Members are being urged to vote in support of both action short of strike and full strike action. Find out more.

This week the Westminster Department of Health and Social Care has submitted its evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) for the 2027/28 pay round, setting out what it believes NHS staff should be paid and what it says the health service can afford. The PRB will then consider that evidence alongside submissions from unions, employers and other stakeholders before making recommendations on NHS pay.

But the proposed affordability of a 2.4% pay award would be a betrayal of nursing staff in our NHS. We, along with 13 out of 14 other NHS Staff Side unions, do not submit evidence to the PRB – and we won’t allow ministers to hide behind the process. Ministers should negotiate directly with us on nursing pay and reach a fair agreement that puts the NHS on a better path and values the staff who work within it.

The Chancellor’s upcoming UK Budget is an opportunity to deliver investment in the nursing workforce, and in our health and care system. We have been active in calling for more investment in nursing and this needs to start with how we support nursing students and those at the beginning of their career. Investing in nursing is investing in the health and wealth of the nation.

The prime minister and chancellor must correct a deep injustice by forgiving graduate nurses' student loans – our new analysis published this week shows that nurses are now graduating with more student debt than doctors, despite far shorter courses and nurses earning hundreds of thousands of pounds less over their careers.

This deeply unfair debt makes it harder to attract and keep the nurses in health and care services that we so desperately need. The evidence is clear: loan forgiveness will deliver better staffed services, improve care and pay for itself over and over again.

Investment in nursing was my main message to ministers and MPs at the Labour Party Conference, where I spoke at a panel event to discuss the future of the nursing profession and the investment needed. I warned that without a step change in how the nursing profession is valued, the health care system will remain in crisis in trying to meet rising patient demand.

At Labour Conference I also met with the BMA Chair of Council, Tom Dolphin. We discussed the pressing issues relating to both professions, where I stressed the critical role of advanced nursing practice in patient care and urged the BMA to better reflect this in how they talk about advanced practice.

As we move into autumn and the nights draw in, it’s a stark reminder than winter is on its way. I know that you’ll already be concerned about the additional pressures winter will bring. And while the UK Health Secretary Yvette Cooper’s winter funding announcement, in part to help speed up ending hospital corridor care for children, will help to boost short-term capacity in the NHS in England it is just another sticking plaster on a system that is at breaking point. 

The situation is similar across the UK. Earlier this month, we published a new report showing the scale of corridor care in Scotland. In the report, the RCN in Scotland called for an agreed definition of corridor care and regular reporting of data – alongside sustained investment in community nursing and bed capacity. 

Later that day, as a direct result of our report, the Scottish government committed to recording and reporting incidents. This is a huge win, and the result of years of campaigning by the RCN raising your concerns about the impact hospital overcrowding is having on the safety and dignity of patients and the wellbeing of staff. We now need to see a timeline, across the UK, for investment and action to end this unsafe practice once and for all. 

This week, the Covid Inquiry module 6 report was published giving a damning assessment of how social care, and nurses working in the sector, were badly failed. The report found that at the heart of government and within key agencies, there was a palpable lack of understanding as to how the sector operated which cost lives. We know the sector still faces considerable issues – including understaffing of registered nurses and poor pay, terms and conditions. We are demanding new investment in workforce and services from the Westminster government now.

This year marks a quarter of a century of nursing support worker membership of the Royal College of Nursing. Working alongside registered nurses and the wider multidisciplinary team, nursing support workers spend significant time caring for patients and families – and play an essential role in patient care. Our Nursing Support Workers’ Conference on 23 November will be celebrating 25 years, with a theme of Leading Through Care: Empowering the Nursing Support Workforce. I really hope to see many of you there.

On the following day, 24 November, I’ll be hosting a Listening Event with members about the impact of daily staff redeployment. I know that frequent or short-notice redeployment can affect staff wellbeing, teamwork and patient safety. 

As I’ve said before, we cannot truly be the voice of nursing unless we listen. So, I’d really encourage you to join the Listening Event to share your experience. Whether you are redeployed or responsible for making redeployment decisions, we want to hear what works, what needs to change, and how staff can be better supported. You can help make redeployment safer, fairer and more supportive.

I’d like to offer my congratulations to Carmel O'Boyle and Natalie Brooks who’ve been re-elected as Chair and Vice Chair of RCN Council, respectively. I look forward to continuing our work together with a clear focus on what matters most to our members.

And finally, I’m delighted that the nominations for the RCN Awards 2027 are now open. It’s your chance to celebrate the nursing colleagues whose passion, leadership and commitment make a difference across our College. RCN Awards are open for nominations across our membership – in whatever member category or nursing role – so please do make your nomination before they close at 4.30pm on 12 November 2026