Nursing ‘not taken seriously’ because profession is 90% female, union boss says

The nursing profession being 90% female may be among the reasons it is “not taken seriously” when it comes to investment and pay, a union chief has said.

Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said nurses “need more than just sympathy” from the Government.

She said patience is starting to run out, and said Government efforts to reform the health service “will fail” if the profession does not get investment.

‘Desperate’ 

Speaking to the PA news agency at the RCN’s annual congress in Liverpool, Prof Ranger said nurses “are desperate for their profession and they are desperate for the people that they care for”.

“Don’t take for granted our patience because, actually, it will run out,” she added.

“We hope that this Government, who does want to succeed, starts to take nursing seriously.

“And I do believe there’s many reasons why we’re not taken seriously, maybe it is because we’re 90% female, but enough is enough actually.

“I hope the Government start to wake up and take that seriously.”

Prof Ranger said she believes Health Secretary Wes Streeting wants the NHS to succeed, but nurses need more than sympathy.

“I’ve met Mr Streeting several times, and I absolutely believe that he wants the NHS to succeed, and I think he also understands my arguments about nursing being at the bottom of the graduate pay scale,” she said.

“But actually, we need more than just sympathy now.

“We know money is tight, but if they don’t invest in nursing and give some sense of value and hope, they will fail, and I think that sense of urgency needs to really come through to them.”

Strike action

Prof Ranger used her keynote speech at congress to hint that strike action by nurses could be on the horizon.

The NHS Pay Review Body recommended a pay rise of about 3% for nurses for the year 2025-26 in April, but there is yet to be an announcement on pay.

Nurses staged unprecedented industrial action over pay in 2022 and 2023.

In June 2023 the threat of more strikes ended because a ballot on further walkouts failed to meet the legal threshold of 50%.

After the speech she told PA: “The last thing the public wants, and the last thing the profession wants at this moment in time, is strike action.

“Since I’ve come into post, and (Prime Minister Sir) Keir Starmer came into the post, both on the same day, we’ve been really clear what we want for nursing.

“We want them to start showing that they’re listening and some action, and we’ll be incredibly disappointed if, over the summer, there isn’t some key indication that they recognise that what we want is investment in those nursing staff at the very bottom of the scale.

“We want that progression, automatic progression from band five to six, for our most junior nurses, paid and supported. That’s what we want to see.

“So it isn’t just about an annual pay rise any more. We need structural change for nursing.”