The UK picture
In England there is no law related to nurse staffing.
The RCN is campaigning for legislation to guarantee nurse staffing levels in England across all sectors and settings.
Safe staffing legislation which covers NHS hospitals has already been introduced in Wales.
The RCN is continuing to campaign to ensure that this law improves the situation for nursing teams and their patients. The RCN is also working with the Welsh Government to extend the legislation to other areas of nursing.
In May 2019 the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act became law.
The RCN is now focused on monitoring how the law is implemented and making sure it achieves its aims.
RCN members in Northern Ireland are currently undertaking a programme of industrial action to demand measures promoting safe nurse staffing and pay equality.
15 May 2020
The guidelines aim to ensure the NHS can continue to operate a safety-first approach as lockdown restrictions ease.
18 Apr 2020
Our survey reveals thousands of nursing professionals from across the UK are being asked to work without the right personal protective equipment (PPE) or to reuse single-use items.
The number of nursing and midwifery posts vacant across Scotland’s NHS remains a major concern, according to the Royal College of Nursing.
3 Mar 2020
Our campaign for safe and effective care took centre stage during a parliamentary debate on the nursing workforce shortage in England.
28 Feb 2020
The RCN is urging MPs across the West Midlands to support ‘urgent and meaningful measures’ to tackle a critical shortage of nurses.
28 Feb 2020
We’re urging members to contact their MP ahead of the debate on nursing shortages in England.
27 Feb 2020
New polling suggests widespread concern that there are too few nursing staff to provide safe and effective care for the people of Scotland.
27 Feb 2020
We want a meaningful pay rise for all nursing staff and a long-term funding settlement for public health and social care services based on population needs.
26 Feb 2020
Our survey of emergency nursing staff in England reveals the difficulties of providing care to patients in cramped and unsuitable locations.
24 Feb 2020
Nursing staff have voted to accept an offer made in response to their historic strike action.
Each month you'll receive an email with a quick and easy online action you can take to help us make sure we have safe staffing levels in England.
