Press Releases
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03/07/2025
Press Release
Nursing staff ready to deliver government’s NHS vision but fully funded plan needed to grow workforce, says Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The government and the NHS must bring about a reset with the nursing profession too. Nursing staff are identified today as the expert leaders to deliver a neighbourhood health service and that should be truly empowering."
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03/07/2025
Press Release
Neighbourhood Health Service needs plan to address community nursing shortages
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “A neighbourhood health service is a bold vision and it needs nursing staff in the driving seat. The Prime Minister must back up his plan with a clear one to turn around the shortage of nurses in all local communities."
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02/07/2025
Press Release
'More needed to boost student and nurse staffing levels’, Royal College of Nursing responds to new nurse education measures announced by the health secretary
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “These modest changes may improve the experience for current nursing students but more is needed to boost student and nurse staffing levels in the face of the current crisis."
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30/06/2025
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to plans for a new early warning system for NHS patient safety
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “The guaranteed way to improve care is to raise staffing levels. In the NHS today, one nurse can be left caring for 10, 15 or more patients at a time. The situation is drastically unsafe."
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28/06/2025
Press Release
Royal College of Nursing responds to plans to cut NHS quangos
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “For these proposed changes to be effective government must take ownership of the real issue, the staffing crisis on our wards, and not just shuffle people into new roles. Protecting patients has to be the priority and not just a drive for efficiency."
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25/06/2025
Press Release
Positive progress but clear there is still more work to be done, says RCN
Responding to the NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) reports published today, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “It is positive that these figures suggest progress has been made in improving representation at senior levels in the NHS, but it’s clear that there is still more work to be done."
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25/06/2025
Press Release
‘Nursing staff stand ready to make this plan work, but they need to see a commitment to rebuild the whole workforce,' says Royal College of Nursing
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said: “For too long now, those in the most deprived, rural and coastal areas have struggled to access the healthcare services they need, so any efforts to tackle this are a step in the right direction."
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18/06/2025
Press Release
Surge in international leavers exposes failure to grow domestic nurse workforce, RCN says in response to new NMC register data
RCN Chief Nursing Officer Lynn Woolsey, said: “These figures put pressure on Wes Streeting to come up with a 10-year workforce strategy to turn things around. Numbers studying nursing in the UK are falling through the floor and we are going to see a worsening picture as the figures are released."
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18/06/2025
Press Release
Wales’s Nursing Workforce Improving, but Royal College of Nursing Warns That Shortfalls Remain
RCN Wales responds to the latest Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register data report showing an increase in nursing professionals on the register.
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16/06/2025
Press Release
Nurses top list of public sector workers who should be paid more, as public says government ‘doesn’t value nursing’
RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger, said: “These findings show the government is out of step with the public. Whoever you speak to, people overwhelmingly want nursing staff paid fairly, but yet again ministers put us at the back of the queue behind other professions. Treating nursing like this is disrespectful and bad for the NHS too."
Page last updated - 21/02/2025
