Nursing is ‘silver bullet’ to turning NHS around and delivering government’s economic agenda but needs investment, RCN says

The Chancellor’s budget must ‘give hope’ that the NHS can be turned around and deliver new investment in nursing to transform care of patients, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says ahead of this week’s budget.

Rachel Reeves used her scene-setting speech this month to put protecting the NHS at the centre of her budget.

The leader of the largest profession in the NHS has asked the government to ‘stop the rot’ in the NHS workforce.

Professor Ranger makes the call as the College releases new research showing fewer than one in five nurses (18.1%) feels able to provide the level of care they want for patients. While six in ten (62.9%) feel under too much pressure at work. 

The findings come from the College’s largest ever employment survey (due to be published in full next month) of nursing staff about their working conditions, in which they also report caring for dozens of patients at a time in the NHS.

Ahead of the budget, Ranger urges the Chancellor to ‘do what’s right by patients’ by investing in the nursing workforce to improve staffing levels. She says nursing is the ‘silver bullet’ to protecting the NHS and achieving government reforms in England.

Nursing is the largest single workforce in the NHS, providing the vast majority of care for patients. But there are currently 25,000 vacancies in England’s health service, with the numbers of young people choosing nursing as a career collapsing.

The RCN’s survey saw the numbers who would recommend nursing as a career fall to its lowest level (30.5%), while satisfaction with their pay band among nursing staff also fell to its lowest level (20.7%) for a decade.

In a new RCN report An economic case for investing in the nursing profession’, the College lays out the benefits to tackling the workforce crisis and investing in nursing. It highlights the major contribution of the profession to patient care, public health, including driving productivity among the wider population.

The College calls on government to protect patient care by retaining and recruiting more nursing staff by supporting career pathways that value nurses’ experience and skills. In the report, it highlights the benefits of nursing pay reform, providing ministers with new and independent research by London Economics which shows that better pay progression would help improve retention, saving the NHS £223m in staff replacement costs in the first year.

Alongside a new career progression model, the College is also calling for new investment to boost student nurse numbers, including through a loan forgiveness model for those who commit to working in public services, alongside uplifted, universal maintenance grants.

Four in ten (39.8%) of those surveyed by the RCN are considering or actively planning to quit nursing. Emotional fatigue, financial dissatisfaction, and a lack of recognition are key drivers, with these push factors far outweighing positive motivations such as seeking promotion or looking for a new challenge.

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said:

“The Chancellor has set her sights on protecting the NHS this budget but to truly do what’s right by patients investment must be focussed on driving up staffing levels and stopping the rot in the NHS workforce.

“Whether a hospital or a clinic, patients are simply not getting the treatment or experience they need and deserve. The demand on the NHS grew faster than its workforce. The longer this is allowed to continue, the longer patients suffer, the longer targets are missed and nursing staff leave the profession feeling broken and undervalued.

“Nursing staff are highly-skilled professionals – the guaranteed silver bullet for turning around the fortunes of the health service and improving patient care and key to delivering the government’s wider economic agenda.

“For a ‘protect the NHS’ budget to be worthy of the name, the chancellor must look to nursing as the solution and deliver that new investment. That means funding to boost student nurse numbers, a commitment to improve nursing pay but also ensuring social care gets the attention it needs.”

Ends

Notes to editors

The Economic Case for Investing in Nursing: the RCN's proposals ahead of the 2026 budget

In the RCN’s employment survey, which received 20k responses from nursing staff:

In 2025, 62.9% said they feel under too much pressure at work

In 2025, just 18.1% disagreed with the statement ‘i am too busy to provide the level of care I would like’, whilst 59.3% agreed.

The numbers recommending nursing as a career hit the lowest level for a decade. In 2025, 30.5% would recommend the profession as a career, down from 45.1% in 2015.

Satisfaction with their pay level or band among nursing staff hit its lowest level for a decade. In 2025, 20.7% stated it is appropriate falling from 43.7% of respondents in 2015.

In 2025, 39.8% of nursing staff said they were thinking about or actively planning to leave quit.

On 4/11 in her ‘scene setter’ speech ahead of the budget, the Chancellor pledged to protect the NHS in her budget.