Politics.co.uk, December 29, 2006 The UK regulatory body for the nursing and midwifery professions today advised Bulgarian and Romanian nurses and midwives coming to work in the UK to check that their qualifications meet European Union standards. Welcoming the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to EU on 1 January 2007, the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) reminded all EU nationals that they must be registered with the NMC in order to practise in the UK. ... NMC

Jo Revill, Observer, December 17, 2006 The Royal College of Nursing may have to sell its London headquarters to developers because of looming financial problems and a £42m pensions deficit. The Georgian building near Harley Street - valued at £31m - may be converted into apartments or a luxury hotel. The proposal sale was revealed as Dr Beverley Malone, the general secretary, returned home to America last week leaving what her critics have called an institution in disarray. However, the sale will not happen without a fight. There is already dismay among rank-and-file RCN nurses, and more than 1,000 signatures have been collected on a petition demanding a vote of all 400,000 members. ... Nurses

Lucy Lynch, ic Coventry, November 28, 2006 Head teachers in Coventry have launched a furious protest against plans to cut school nurses. About 20 city heads have each written to NHS bosses at the Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust saying that children will lose out on vital help they need. The heads are worried parents who need help from nursery nurses to tackle their toddlers' bad behaviour will miss out making it harder for those children to cope when they start school. ... Protest

Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, November 14, 2006 Concerns are growing for the safety of staff at the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital after a series of assaults on nurses and doctors walking home from work. Many hospital workers cut through the UEA campus on their way home - and there have been at least four attacks in the past three weeks, one of which resulted in a cleaner ending up in hospital with head injuries. The assaults, as well as numerous threats, have taken place on and around the main cycle path which runs close to the river at the UEA, usually late afternoon or early evening. ... Nurses

Press Association, October 24, 2006 Unions representing around 750,000 NHS workers refused to rule out strike action today in the row over pay. Fourteen trade unions and staff associations joined forces to condemn the Government's proposal for a below-inflation 1.5% rise for staff. The unions will submit their evidence today to the independent Nurses and Other Health Professions Review Body (NOHPRB) calling for a higher rise to reflect staff commitments and hard work across the NHS. Unions including the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), and Unison said strike action would not be ruled out such as if the situation arose where the Government chose to ignore the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies. ... Unions

Hélène Mulholland, Guardian Unlimited, October 24, 2006 Gordon Brown was today warned to stop interfering with nurses' pay or face a national walkout by NHS staff as they pressed the case for a "substantial" pay increase. Healthcare unions today issued a clear warning to the chancellor to stay out of the independent pay review process after evidence of Treasury meddling. Both Beverly Malone of the Royal College of Nurses and Warren Town of the Society of Radiographers said they refused to "rule out" industrial action. ... Unions

Nursing shortages are linked to an increase in patient death rates, a study of English hospitals has found. BBC News, October 23, 2006 Scientists discovered mortality was 26% higher for the hospitals with the worst staffing levels compared with those with more nurses per patient. The Royal College of Nursing said the study, published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies, showed it was essential to retain nursing posts. But the Department of Health said nurse numbers had risen in recent years. ... Nurse

Offer is an insult say unions. Rosa Prince, Mirror.co.uk, October 21, 2006 Nurses reacted with fury yesterday as it was revealed they may get a pay rise of only 2p an hour. The Government wants to give NHS medical staff a 1.5 per cent basic increase - less than half the inflation rate of 3.6 per cent. Karen Jennings of Unison said: "A 1.5 per cent increase works out at less than 2p an hour for newly-qualified nurses and paramedics." Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt insists rises must be low to get the NHS through its current cash crisis. ... Nurses

Suffolk Evening Star, October 21, 2006 Hundreds of people have today added their backing to a campaign to save Ipswich's children's cancer nurses. The town's cash-strapped hospital is proposing to axe one of two specialist nurses that help youngsters with cancer but furious parents have united to display their disgust at the move. As revealed in The Evening Star on Tuesday, Sarah Beard who lost her daughter to Chelsie to cancer last month has set up an online petition against the proposals. ... Hundreds

Anthony Browne, The Times, October 21, 2006 Doctors and nurses are facing pay cuts as the Government struggles to resolve the hospital deficit crisis that has led to thousands of job losses. Nurses’ unions accused the Department of Health of bullying after it insisted that medical staff should have a below-inflation pay rise to plug the hole in budgets, saying that patients would suffer otherwise. The department said that doctors, nurses, midwives and dentists should get basic pay rises of 1.5 per cent next year, despite the NHS budget rising by 9 per cent. The 1.5 per cent offer is less than half the rate of inflation, so in real terms pay rates would be cut. ... Nurses

Hewitt believed hospitals could afford larger pay rise. A slap in face for dedicated nurses, says RCN. John Carvel, Guardian, October 20, 2006 Nurses' leaders accused the government last night of imposing "a massive pay cut" on all NHS staff when it emerged that ministers want to peg next year's pay rise to 1.5%. Unions believe that the chancellor, Gordon Brown, intervened to reduce the offer that the health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, thought hospitals should be able to afford. The chancellor insisted that doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives and other health workers should be held to 1.5% in the annual settlement for 2007/8 - well below the inflation rate of 3.6% in the most recent retail price index. ... Angry

Nicholas Timmins, Financial Times, October 19, 2006 Doctors, dentists and nurses should get basic pay rises of only 1.5 per cent next year – less than half the current inflation rate – the government said on Thursday in a move presaging the toughest public sector pay round in years. Gordon Brown, chancellor, had already made clear to review bodies charged with recommending public sector pay rises that settlements should not breach the government’s inflation target of 2 per cent. ... Health

Press Association, October 19, 2006 Almost three quarters of newly qualified nurses are still searching for a permanent job months after qualifying, according to a survey. The study, from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), involved questioning 500 newly-qualified and more than 2,200 student nurses. The RCN said it wanted to examine the impact of NHS deficits and recruitment freezes on nurses at the start of their careers. Of the 500 newly-qualified nurses questioned, 71% were still searching for a band 5 nursing job, which is the level at which all nurses begin their career, the RCN said. ... Most

Sarah Hall, Norwich Evening News, October 6, 2006 Student nurses were today reassured there would be jobs for them at the end of their training despite the current crisis gripping the NHS. People enrolling on courses this week have been told by the head of the new nursing and midwifery school at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital that they will have no problem finding work when they graduate. The £10 million school, which opened at the N&N this week, is now taking its first students and at its peak there will 850 full-time students and 2,000 attending part time. But, as reported in the Evening News, student nurses were told this summer they could be forced to settle for part-time jobs when they graduate because of the financial crisis in the NHS. ... Jobs

Medical News Today, October 5, 2006 The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is delighted to announce the appointment of its new General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter OBE. Dr Carter is currently the Chief Executive of the Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, one of the largest mental health trusts in the UK, a post he has held since 1995. Dr Carter will take over from current RCN General Secretary, Dr Beverly Malone, who steps down in December after nearly six years at the helm of the world's largest trade union of nurses. ... Royal