Press Releases
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12/06/2026
Press Release
New Health Bill amendment a ‘significant victory’ to safeguard nurse leadership in NHS decision making, says RCN
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “This is a significant victory for nursing, safeguarding its seat at the top table of NHS foundation trusts. It maintains the existing legal requirement which the government had previously intended to scrap. We have fought hard for this amendment, and it is a breakthrough moment with the government listening to our calls to ensure board level nurse leadership is protected."
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11/06/2026
Press Release
Alarming corridor care figures damning indictment of just how far care standards have fallen, says Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “Behind these figures aren’t just patients and families suffering, but nursing staff demoralised at being forced to deliver poor care, day in day out."
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11/06/2026
Press Release
NHS workforce plan ‘must be paused’ over concerns it fails to safely grow staff numbers and over-relies on AI, say health unions and professional bodies
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “The newly appointed Secretary of State has a pivotal opportunity to apply the brakes and think again. More detailed and meaningful engagement with the expert organisations and vital NHS staff who are standing ready to make this plan a success, will be critical for ensuring the safety of patients for generations to come.”
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08/06/2026
Press Release
This catastrophe has been unfolding unchecked in our hospitals for far too long, warns Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “This is the tragic reality when people are left to wait in overcrowded and under-resourced A&Es"
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04/06/2026
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to Lord Mann’s review into antisemitism and other forms of racism in the NHS
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:. It’s absolutely essential that staff are safe at work, but the reality is racism in the NHS is on the rise, as is violence, aggression and sexual harassment. That these behaviours have become so normalised is alarming."
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28/05/2026
Press Release
Professional Standards Authority report 'damning indictment' of NMC, says Royal College of Nursing
RCN Chief Nursing Officer, Professor Lynn Woolsey, said a report from the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) provides a damning indictment of the NMC, finding that it meets just half of the standards expected of a regulator.
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27/05/2026
Press Release
Nursing and Midwifery Council 'severely undermining' trust in the profession, says RCN
RCN Chief Nursing Officer Professor Lynn Woolsey said the failing called into question whether the NMC it is fit for purpose as the nursing profession’s regulator.
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21/05/2026
Press Release
Depleted social care workforce burnt out and demoralised as underfunding issues persist, warns Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “At the heart of this is a workforce that has not been given the value it deserves. With an ageing population, the scale of the challenge for governments across the UK has never been clearer."
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20/05/2026
Press Release
Half a million children attended A&E in mental health crisis, as RCN calls for wider roll-out of mental health A&Es and for action on social determinants
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “Half a million children and young people attending A+E in a mental health crisis is evidence of a catastrophic system-wide failure. Nursing staff give their all in the most difficult circumstances, but the fact is that busy and stressful A+Es are wholly unsuitable places for anyone in mental distress, let alone vulnerable children."
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19/05/2026
Press Release
Racism allowed to ‘flourish’ in NHS says RCN, as tens of thousands of nursing staff report 78% surge in racist abuse
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “These findings show a catastrophic rise in the racist abuse faced by nursing staff. It is a disgrace, and perhaps just as bad is the fact that many NHS Trusts and Health Boards cannot even tell us how many staff have been on the receiving end. It amounts to a policy of ‘don’t know, don’t care."
Page last updated - 02/06/2026
