I was at the Florence Nightingale launch event for the year at the House of Lords on the 16 January as an honorary vice president of the Florence Nightingale Foundation. Professor Anne Marie Rafferty, RCN President, was also there and it was a fantastic launch to what will be a great year of celebration. I feel I should start my blog with a quote from the woman herself:
“For the sick it is important to have the best” – Florence Nightingale.
I am proud to be a nurse and a member of the RCN. Modern nursing is multifaceted, with registered nurses working alongside nurse associates and other excellent nursing support workers to support care delivery to our patients and clients in a wide variety of ways. Along with those undertaking nurse education or training - the future of nursing - let’s make this a great year celebrating all that we do, and show how proud we are to care for people in what is often the most vulnerable time of their lives.
Equality is one of our key focus areas as carers, recognising that everyone is different but entitled to dignity and respect whoever we are. February is LGBTQ history month. There is no place for prejudice in a civilised society
We had a new Council introductory working session on 9 January for all the new members to be inducted and get to know each other. The day included governance roles and responsibilities. We also had workshops on independence governance reviews from the Centre for Public Scrutiny and ways of working/ relationships and an informal facilitated session about governance. The day was excellent and the new Council is working well as a team.
The main Council meeting was held on Monday 3 February at the London offices of the RCN and as usual the agenda was packed with discussions led by our new Chair of Council, Dee Sissons, who did an excellent job of keeping the flow between items whilst allowing for debate.
Key issues
The Northern Ireland dispute and strike action, although difficult for all involved, has brought the issues to a head and the new devolved government has met with RCN Northern Ireland and are in agreement with our calls for pay parity with the rest of the UK, but the second issue, that of safe and effective staffing, is also being looked into. As a result the strike action has been suspended and Council agreed to the ongoing suspension but not closure on the dispute until a successful outcome has been signed. We also discussed the red handbook for action for Guernsey who are also in dispute and asked for an update for the first draft before moving forward.
As you may be aware, this is the final year of the current three-year pay deal so we will be entering into negotiations for the next pay awards in 2021. This work is at a very early stage but Council are aware of the importance of this for our membership so we will keep you informed and updated as the work progresses.
RCN Congress 2020 is approaching and we have almost 2,000 registered as voting members, as well as the highest number of applications ever for Congress from the South West. Thanks to all our branches for all you do to galvanise our members across the region. RCN Council looked at the items for discussion or resolution and these will be published once all who submitted them have been notified, but I can say that we have a very broad and interesting agenda for Congress. The committee received a record 160 submissions which I think really shows just how engaged our members are across in the health care arena.
We continue to explore the merits of rejoining the International Council of Nurses. Unfortunately there have been delays in the ICN supply of the information we need so it is unlikely that the matter will be presented to Congress for consideration until 2021.
We have a record number of members as we continue to grow. The work looking at the RCN continues. The Staffing for Safe and Effective Care campaign remains a key focus and surveys are underway to gather the evidence about the pressures we are all working under.
We also looked at last year’s Congress resolutions and what progress has been made in the work associated with them. Council members are assigned to individual resolutions to take forward. We are also setting up task and finish groups and I will be chairing one on Congress.
Susan Masters, former Regional Director for the South West, joined us in her new role of Director of Nursing, Employment Relations, Policy and Public Affairs UK (International). It was good to work with Susan again during a very busy but productive day.
I continue with my work locally as an RCN steward and have just been elected to Chair of the Staff Partnership Forum at my trust. It is really important, if you can, to join your staff partnership forums and use the opportunity to question your organisation’s leaders to ensure they fulfil their remit towards staff.
I’d like to finish by thanking those of you who have come to the UK from around the world to take up roles in nursing. Your contribution to the health and wellbeing of our communities is important and highly valued. I know it has been a difficult time with the UK leaving the European Union but I want to thank you for the care you deliver and for being part of our amazing workforce.
Best wishes
Geoffrey
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