Proposed merger of RCN Nottingham and RCN North Nottinghamshire branches

This has been a point of discussion for several years but has become more relevant over the last six months due to the RCN North Nottinghamshire branch being unable to hold a quorate Annual General Meeting or have an executive team in place for the branch.

These are both requirements for an active branch within the Royal College of Nursing.

FAQs

What will happen if the proposed merger doesn’t happen?

Every RCN member must be assigned to a branch and that branch has to be functional and adhere to the governance directed by RCN Council. If this merger did not proceed, there would need to be further investigation into where the members of the RCN North Nottinghamshire branch could be reallocated to.

The geography of the region would dictate that the next branch to consider would be the RCN North Lincolnshire branch.

However, the RCN North Lincolnshire branch finds itself in a similar position to the RCN North Nottinghamshire branch and is currently in consultation with the RCN South Lincolnshire branch over a proposed merger.

This would suggest that a merger between the RCN North Nottinghamshire and RCN North Lincolnshire branches would merely bring together two struggling branches, as well as crossing over both employer and Integrated Care Board (ICB) footprints.

The other possibility would be to reassign members to neighbouring branches in the Yorkshire and Humber region. Again, this would not reflect the footprint members work within and would also reduce the East Midlands' regional impact as we would lose a considerable number of members.

What are the benefits of the merger?

A newly merged RCN Nottinghamshire branch would be able to fully support members across all the main employers (both NHS and independent sector) and ICB within the same branch.

It would also mean that learning and development across the whole county could be included in branch meetings and plans, and a countywide approach could be developed around employer policies etc. It may also mean there is less emphasis on the major employers and enable all members to feel more engaged.

What are the disadvantages of merger?

We recognise that a merged branch could create challenges in bringing people together face-to-face. However, the past two years have shown us that virtual meetings and events can work extremely well. If these were interspersed with occasional face-to-face events, particularly if we can perhaps include a learning event with say a branch meeting, we are confident we can meet this challenge.

The other possible concern would be increased responsibility for active branch members and executives. However, we would hope a newly relaunched branch will bring in new activists to help with that workload.

How will a branch function over such a distance?

A hybrid approach with some virtual and some face-to-face events, with branch leads perhaps dispersed throughout employers. The regional staff team would certainly be keen to help with enabling this. We would commit to ensure technology is available to the branches to enable hybrid events to take place.

Face-to-face branch meetings could be held at various locations within the county utilising the main locations of Nottingham, Newark and Mansfield, which all have good transport links. The Branch Committee would be responsible for planning these.

Feedback so far and our response

I think this is a great idea but have to take into consideration that Bassetlaw in North Notts doesn't sit in the Nottinghamshire ICS and nurses in the area working at Bassetlaw Hospital come under a Yorkshire Trust. 

We need to campaign for Bassetlaw to be brought into Nottinghamshire rather than with a hospital over 20 miles away from Worksop and Retford.

This has been an ongoing issue for some time and is complicated by some employers in Bassetlaw being within the Yorkshire and Humber Region and others being in the East Midlands. A larger Nottinghamshire branch would certainly be able to contribute to the debate over RCN and ICB boundaries.

My concern is the fear of getting help when it is needed might take much longer than necessary.

The vast majority of members obtain initial support via RCN Direct and the Regional Office team, who then direct members to either workplace Stewards or the Regional Officer team. A merged branch should not impact on this process and may well lead to additional workplace Stewards, Learning, and Health and Safety reps in place.

The north of the county often gets missed, as Nottingham appears to be considered as "the centre of the universe". As with other things, when mergers like this happen, the needs of the north are often missed and overshadowed by the needs of Nottingham.

 Our hope is that a countywide Nottinghamshire branch would enable all members, wherever they may be in the county, to feel they belong and that the branch is relevant to them.

Less voting places? Less opportunities for members (i.e. branch seats)?

There would be no loss of voting places at events such as RCN Congress. In fact, it could increase attendance as a larger branch with the two combined memberships may create more voting places. At the very least, they would remain the same.

The workload to run a branch is not insignificant and is in addition to any substantive work duties or other RCN roles that we carry.

 This is absolutely true and is recognised. It is hoped that a larger branch would encourage more members to become involved to ease that workload. 

As a side note, the email does not represent the current situation as I understand it and gives a misleading impression that both branches are flourishing and would bring benefit to both.

We apologise if the information sent out previously implied both branches were flourishing. Unfortunately, that is certainly not the case - while the RCN Nottingham branch is active with many reps and activists, the RCN North Nottinghamshire branch has been struggling for some time.