Responding to the spring statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: 

“The chancellor has made growth the centre piece of her economic plan. Nursing is essential, safety critical infrastructure that is vital for the wellbeing of the population; investing in our profession is a must for economic growth and protecting the economy.  

“Hospitals, social care and other health services are wracked with dangerous understaffing issues and ever-growing demand. Meanwhile nursing staff are being driven away by poor pay and unbearable conditions, and domestic recruitment through universities is stalling. A nursing profession operating in these circumstances is prevented from playing its full role helping government grow the economy.  

“Bad care costs more in the long run and investment in the nursing profession, especially towards growing the workforce in the community, pays back over and over again. Time is running out for the chancellor ahead of the long-awaited NHS 10-Year Workforce Plan, which without funding risks becoming a wish list of ambitions, not the action desperately needed. It is vital for the safety of patients it contains fully funded commitments to the nursing profession, including growing numbers in the community and social care, and forgiving student loans for those who work in the NHS and public services.” 

ENDS