RCN urges chancellor to ‘stop the rot’ as nursing morale hits new low

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has urged chancellor Rachel Reeves to use this week’s autumn budget to invest in the NHS workforce and ‘stop the rot’ in nursing, warning that patient care is suffering as morale continues to decline.

Ahead of the budget on Wednesday 26 November, the RCN has released findings from its largest-ever employment survey – due to be published next month – showing that fewer than one in five nurses (18.1%) feels able to provide the level of care they want for patients.

In addition, nearly two-thirds (62.9%) said they were under too much pressure at work.

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RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger said new investment was needed to retain staff, increase student nurse numbers, and improve pay and career progression.

‘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,’ she said.

‘Whether a hospital or a clinic, patients are simply not getting the treatment or experience they need and deserve.’

‘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.’

The survey also found that only 30.5% of respondents would recommend nursing as a career, while satisfaction with pay bands had fallen to 20.7% – both the lowest levels for a decade.

Preliminary findings from the RCN’s latest employment survey, completed by more than 20,000 nursing staff across all health and care settings, also reveal that care home nurses across the UK are working while unwell, taking on heavy unpaid overtime and caring for an unmanageable number of residents.

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In a new report published today, the RCN sets out the benefits of tackling the workforce crisis and investing in nursing.

The report, titled An economic case for investing in the nursing profession, highlights the major contribution of the profession to patient care, public health and driving productivity among the wider population.

Research by London Economics included in the report suggests that better pay progression would help improve retention, saving the NHS £223m in staff replacement costs in the first year.

The RCN is also calling for a loan forgiveness scheme for nurses who commit to working in public services, along with improved maintenance support for student nurses.

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Professor Ranger said nursing was the ‘silver bullet’ for reversing NHS decline and called on the chancellor to prioritise staffing in the budget.

‘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,’ she said.