Responding to the launch of a ‘national conversation’ to help shape the NHS 10 Year Plan, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:
“Nursing staff deliver the vast majority of care in the NHS and they know better than anyone how to make services better for patients. The government’s ambitions are the right ones, but to work they will require the expertise of our profession. Through this review, we must begin to see specific commitments and plans to stabilise nursing and unlock our potential to transform patient care.
“The last decade has been characterised by widespread staff shortages, collapsing nurse recruitment and worsening morale. The next ten years must promise to be brighter, but that will require new investment alongside any reforms. A shift to community care and a preventative health model is going to need tens of thousands more nurses.
“The RCN will be encouraging all of its members to share their expert views and put nursing at the heart of the 10 Year Plan.”
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