Yesterday the UK government announced a 3.6% pay award  for nursing staff on Agenda for Change in England and the Welsh Government announced a 3.6% award for NHS staff in Wales. And in Northern Ireland, we expect the same award to be paid. Unfortunately, these awards do nothing to make nursing staff feel valued or recognise our safety-critical role - a defining reason we believe that Agenda for Change no longer works for nursing.

This pay award won’t help get people into nursing - the next generation of nursing staff our profession so badly needs are put off by low wages and pressures in NHS services. We need better starting salaries for new recruits that reflect our value - nursing has more than earned a higher place in health care and in society.

We will open a consultation soon for you to tell us what you think about the award – it’s up to nursing staff to decide what you're worth. Get ready to have your say and check that your details are up to date.

At the end of last week, we announced that members in Scotland have accepted the Scottish Government’s pay offer for the next two years. Scotland have achieved this by having direct negotiations with government, something we have been pushing for across the UK, and we will continue to do so.

But other governments rely on the Pay Review Body. It is not independent, it is outdated and takes far too long. We don’t support it as the way to set nursing pay.

Nursing is a degree-educated, safety critical profession but so many nurses start and finish their career on the same band, weighted to the bottom, with no recognition of all the experience gained over their career.

Last week, many of us were together for RCN Congress 2025 where we released a new document outlining a clear pathway to progression. We are calling for meaningful centrally-funded structural change, separate to the annual cost of living increase, that we deserve. Newly registered nurses, following a period of preceptorship, should progress to band 6 as the new minimum. This will show our value and get people to see a future in this fantastic career.

Congress is such an important part of the RCN calendar, to celebrate our profession and to discuss the changes it needs, together. And as I said in my speech to Congress delegates, I want every one of us to recognise the value we bring, every day. It’s only by truly valuing ourselves, that we can ensure others do the same. It’s the voices of our members that make change happen – it is your voice that makes a difference.

Congress started on International Nurses’ Day and it was a pleasure to share that day with many of our internationally educated colleagues. On the same day, the World Health Organisation released its State of the world’s nursing 2025 report which showed that the world is still short of 5.8 million nurses. Yet at the same time the UK government was announcing its own proposed immigration measures that we believe will accelerate an exodus of valuable migrant nursing staff and increase the staffing crisis facing our health and care services.

We released our new report calling for the UK government to bring down immigration application costs, give internationally educated nursing staff access to benefits and grant indefinite leave to remain to all nursing staff without delay. Without the measures we’re calling for, our amazing colleagues from overseas will continue to leave.

I’d also like to update you on a few important publications. This week we launched our newly updated RCN Nursing Workforce Standards which were originally launched in 2021 and have been updated to ensure they remain relevant, reflect new evidence and respond to feedback from our members. And at Congress, we also launched our definition of Nursing Support Workers offering greater clarity on these roles by outlining two distinct levels – supportive and assistive. And published our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy impact report to show the progress we have made one year on since our strategy launched. Because EDI is not a standalone issue - it’s the golden thread that runs through everything we do.

And finally, in the coming weeks I am going to be celebrating some of the fantastic nursing professionals in Northern Ireland and Scotland, at their Nurse of the Year Awards. Please also take the time to vote for the Nurse of the Year Awards in Wales, where the voting is now open. It’s so important to celebrate and truly value the brilliant examples we see from across nursing – to inspire us and to aspire to.