Press Releases
-
13/11/2024
Press Release
League tables will not address crisis in nursing or NHS, says Royal College of Nursing
Executive Director of RCN England Patricia Marquis said: "To raise standards, the health secretary needs to fill tens of thousands of nurse vacancies. Employers want to see a workforce plan for hiring people, when too many are quitting and student nurse numbers are falling."
-
12/11/2024
Press Release
Nursing staff going into winter ‘running on empty’, Royal College of Nursing warns
Executive Director of RCN England Patricia Marquis said: “A severely depleted nursing workforce is going into winter running on empty, whilst trust leaders sound the alarm that they can’t guarantee high quality care."
-
11/11/2024
Press Release
Huge increase in nurses quitting early in ‘perfect storm’ for patient care, as RCN warns NHS reforms at risk
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “Nursing is an incredible career, and it should be one for life, but thousands are quitting early because they are burnt out, underpaid and demoralised. It is a perfect storm for ministers as thousands leave the profession early and student recruitment collapses."
-
06/11/2024
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to the new Mental Health Bill being introduced in Parliament
RCN Chief Nursing Officer Lynn Woolsey, said: “Modernising the Mental Health Act is welcome, but these long overdue reforms won’t be successful unless we address the crisis in the workforce. A third of all nursing vacancies are in mental health services, meaning vulnerable people are routinely denied access to timely and appropriate care."
-
06/11/2024
Press Release
No NHS modernisation without social care investment, Royal College of Nursing says
RCN Chief Nursing Officer Lynn Woolsey said “Overstretched staff working in social care have been sounding the alarm for years, but successive governments have failed to listen."
-
04/11/2024
Press Release
Tuition fee rise will 'make a bad situation worse', says Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “As student nurse numbers collapse in every English region, ministers decide to make a bad situation worse. Today’s announcement will discourage more people from joining the profession. That means fewer highly-skilled staff on wards and in communities. That is bad news for patient care and undermines the government’s very own NHS reforms."
Page last updated - 02/06/2026
