Nurses’ consciences “will be clear” if they take to the picket lines in protest of this year’s NHS pay deal, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief has said. Professor Nicola Ranger, the union’s general secretary and chief executive, told Nursing Times today that it would be on ministers, not nurses, if strike action goes ahead. “When nursing is in such a crisis, and they already feel undervalued, it just felt like a real slap in the face” Nicola Ranger It comes as the RCN has today launched a consultation on the 2025-26 pay deal, which is providing a 3.6%…
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Hundreds of thousands of nurses will begin to vote on whether this year’s NHS pay award is enough, via a consultation being run by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The union has today launched a consultative ballot of 345,000 members across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on the 3.6% pay offer put forward by the government for 2025-26. “They won’t just be voting on the fairness of the award for themselves, but if it’s enough to turn our profession around” Nicola Ranger It said this biggest single vote of the profession in the UK would be “crucial” to determining…
Thousands of nurses representing more than 100 countries are gathering this week to share knowledge and discuss the biggest issues facing the profession across the world. The 2025 International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress starts today in Helsinki, Finland, and Nursing Times is the exclusive media partner for the Northern Hemisphere. Our reporter Edd Church is there to cover the big stories. “It’s now time to act and invest in nursing to meet the world’s challenges across health care” Howard Catton Held once every two years, ICN Congress acts as a forum for representatives of national nursing associations from member…
Public health nurses have welcomed government plans to expand free school meals to all children whose families are on universal credit. Ministers this week unveiled plans that would see half a million additional children benefit from a free meal every school day, from the start of the 2026 school year. “This is an important step in addressing the huge challenges of child poverty affecting children in the UK” Alison Morton Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year. The Department for Education claimed that the expansion of…
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and other health organisations have written to the UK foreign secretary asking for action to protect children and healthcare workers in Gaza. The RCN is a signatory on the letter alongside the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the International Child Health Group, the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Physicians. “Every child has the right to survive and thrive, even in the most challenging of circumstances” Letter from health organisations They have requested an urgent meeting with foreign secretary David Lammy to discuss their concerns regarding the “ongoing…
Nursing and other healthcare leaders have welcomed a plan to tackle the urgent and emergency care crisis with cautious optimism. The UK Government and NHS England published a new Urgent and Emergency Care Plan 2025-26 today. “This is a plan high in ambition, but low on detail” Nicola Ranger The plan made a number of pledges, to be met by the end of the financial year, aimed at easing waiting times for patients. These included reducing ambulance wait times for category 2 (serious conditions such as a stroke) patients from 35 to 30 minutes; meeting 45-minute ambulance handover time standards;…
Social care providers across York and North Yorkshire, whether members of the Independent Care Group (ICG) or not, are being urged to attend one of two emergency meetings that could shape the future of care in the region. The ICG is calling on providers to give a clear mandate on how to respond to the unsustainable fee levels for some providers being offered by commissioners, fees that many say are making quality care increasingly unviable. The two meetings will take place on Tuesday 10th June at 6.30pm at Skipton Town Hall and on Thursday 12th June at 6.00pm at St…
Mylaurel, a serious, transitioning care provider at home-based, has locked down $12 million in its latest funding round. Deerfield Management and GV led the round and led the participation from Emerson Collective, Pinta Partners and Ochsner Health and Management. The company's leader has designated the latest funding round for its growth and expansion strategy. “The company is currently in two states: New York and Louisiana,” Mylaurel CEO Juan Vallarino told Home Health Care News. “We're trying to expand, so it helps to promote some of it. There are pipelines for the other three markets being entered and the funds are…
Home care is increasingly offered under Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, often squeezing providers with thin margins. Despite the rising market share of MA, a new study shows that a “slight” number of consumers have chosen to switch to traditional Medicare. Currently, over 35.7 million Americans are enrolled in the MA plan. However, researchers at the University of Michigan University of Michigan in Ann Arbor found that it was one of the switch to traditional Medicare during open registration. Using data from the 2015-2020 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, researchers found that while MAs are increasingly popular, they have experienced the removal…
Nurses belonging to Unite the union will be balloted on whether they would be prepared to take strike action over the 2025-26 pay award for NHS staff. The union has urged its NHS members in England and Wales to reject the recent 3.6% pay offer, in ballots due to open later this month. “This offer does nothing to address low pay in the NHS which hovers perilously close to the legal minimum” Sharon Graham Other health unions are also getting ready to launch consultative ballots on the pay offer in the coming weeks. It comes as the UK government announced…