Blog

The Frontline First campaign was key theme through this week’s Congress and it would not have been such a success without the efforts of you, our members. You supplied us with valuable data on the cuts you are seeing first hand and we were then able to use this to share with the world.

The media has continued, yet again, to focus on RCN Congress. Today’s main story was the publication of a survey of learning disability nurses. The survey found that nurses have "real concerns" about the safety of their clients because of cuts in services, such as health education and personal care packages. The story was covered extensively in the Guardian, who published both a full page feature and a news story, as well as by Press Association and Independent i.

Day three of Congress has seen the media continuing to focus heavily on events in Harrogate, particularly looking at the keynote speeches.

The Royal College of Nursing congress continues today and continues to make headlines. Our story outlining potential losses of more than 60000 NHS posts has received widespread coverage across print, online and broadcast media. An RCN survey found that community services were struggling to meet the demands placed on them, rendering plans to move care from acute hospitals to the community were a "facade”.

Another year, another congress and it’s certainly been a lively start with the RCN receiving extensive coverage in today’s papers. We published details of a new survey which found that patients are being placed on hospital trolleys for hours on end and treated in corridors and make shift wards.

New joint NHS trade unions guidance has been published to help RCN activists resist local proposals to cut NHS pay, terms and conditions. Staff in some foundation trusts in England are facing what appears to be a co-ordinated attempt to make changes to Agenda for Change (AfC) contracts, including threats to dismiss and re-engage staff on new terms and conditions if the unions do not agree to negotiate.

The Royal College of Nursing reiterated its call for the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) to reject outright any proposals to introduce local pay bargaining, as the Department of Health submitted its evidence. The RCN’s Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said the College believes local pay will risk competition between trusts for staff, drive pay down in certain areas and risk lasting damage to staff morale and motivation.

The Royal College of Nursing has conducted its own all member vote on pensions and is now currently meeting other unions who are at varying stages in their own member consultations to discuss next steps. The decision to continue engagement with other trade unions was taken by the RCN Council following the end of the member vote in February.

The Royal College of Nursing has joined other unions to warn that a move to local pay for NHS staff would lead to damaging competition, entrench low pay in certain areas and further erode staff morale. In a joint submission to the NHS Pay Review Body, the NHS staff side has called for the retention of national pay scales. The submission warns that abandoning national pay, following on from pensions negotiations and a two-year pay freeze, will be seen as a further attack on pay, terms and conditions. The report also states that modelling public sector pay on private sector structures will be difficult, costly and inefficient, as well as replicating inequalities found in the private sector.

The nation’s media continues to focus heavily on the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill, with the RCN at the very heart of the debate. Last Friday evening, it was revealed that Downing Street would be holding a meeting on Monday to discuss the NHS reforms and possible ways forward. However, the RCN, along with other organisations such as the BMA and RCGPs, who opposed the bill, did not receive an invite to the meeting.