The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has published a revised set of nursing workforce standards, setting out requirements to apply across all settings in which nursing care is provided, throughout the whole of the UK.
There are 14 workforce standards in total, grouped into the three key themes of: responsibility and accountability; clinical leadership and safety; and health, safety and wellbeing.
It is stipulated that all organisations providing, contracting or commissioning nursing services must have an executive level registered nurse on the board who is responsible for ‘setting the nursing workforce establishment and the standards of nursing care’.
However, the RCN notes that in smaller organisations such as GP practices, care homes and some third sector organisations, there may not be an executive level registered nurse.
In such cases, this exception must be recognised within the documented organisational structure and a designated senior registered nurse lead with the authority to make decisions must be identified. They will be responsible for reporting to the board, senior management team or a named individual accountable for safe nurse staffing.
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The standards also stipulate that the nursing workforce is entitled to work in healthy and safe environments to protect their physical and psychological health and safety.
According to the RCN, risks to members of the nursing workforce working in people’s homes or community settings should be assessed.
In addition, the nursing workforce must be given adequate information and training to undertake a dynamic risk assessment when carrying out home visits and know what steps to take if they feel in danger.
The standards also require employers to actively protect, promote and support the wellbeing of the nursing workforce, with staff always having access to drinking water alongside comfortable and relaxing spaces away from working areas to take their breaks, eat and drink.
Recognition through fair pay, terms and conditions is also stipulated.
Employers should have a transparent pay policy which sets out pay structures, pay progression and the criteria for how pay is increased annually to reflect changes in the cost of living, the RCN said.
On commencement of employment, pay scales must be built upon the Real Living Wage, which is currently £12.60 an hour and £13.85 an hour within London.
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In addition, all members of the nursing workforce:
- must be compensated for any additional costs of working including unsocial or additional hours worked;
- should have access to good quality, sustainable pension provision beyond the statutory minimum;
- should have contractual sick pay, parental leave and annual leave beyond the statutory minimums; and
- should have a fair and transparent process to request a grading/banding review or job evaluation review if they believe that their role has changed beyond their current job description.
Last week it was announced that salaried general practice nurses (GPNs) in England should receive a 4% pay increase for 2025/26 following a promised uplift to the pay elements of the GP contract.
However, Nursing in Practice has exclusively revealed in recent months that many GPNs have gone without uplifts for the past two years.
Pay also features in the revised standard covering education and training, which stipulates that all members of the nursing workforce must have access to high quality, contractually funded continuing professional development (CPD) with protected (paid) time to undertake it.
According to the RCN, the nursing workforce has a right to complete all their statutory, mandatory and CPD training within working time/hours or given time back in lieu.
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In a joint statement, Nicola Ranger, RCN general secretary and chief executive, and Rachel Hollis, chair of the RCN professional nursing committee, said the ‘important and necessary’ changes to the standards had been evidence-based and made ‘working with our members and listening to their professional nursing expertise’.
The RCN’s Nursing Workforce Standards were originally introduced in 2021, and the statement added: ‘Since then, and in the face of government inaction across the UK, the nursing workforce crisis has deepened.
‘It is therefore vital that we equip our profession with this revised set of standards, ensuring they remain relevant, incorporate feedback from our members, and reflect new evidence and policies.’
