Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members – June 2021
1. Background
1.1. This report reflects work done by the Professional Nursing Committee since the last report to Council and updates from our most recent meetings on 29 April and 8 June 2021.
2. Report of Our Meeting Held on 29 April 2021
2.1 We held a short business meeting on 29 April to discuss three specific items ahead of a development session on inclusive leadership which was run by Wendy Irwin, Diversity and Equalities Co-ordinator.
NMC Survey on Education Programme Standards
2.2 We were briefed on the NMC survey on its existing education and training programme standards. We fed in our views at the meeting and by email afterwards to inform the RCN response and noted arrangements for the online member engagement events in May and the contributions of PNC members Professor Julie Green and Professor Alison Leary in these events.
2.3 At our June meeting, we noted that the NMC had extended its deadline for response to 16 weeks rather than the original 12 weeks enabling a longer period for consultation with members on the planned RCN response. We discussed some of the key questions and will continue to contribute to the response alongside the wider membership. We will review the draft of the final RCN response at our next meeting.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) Consultation on Proposals to Reform the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals
2.4 We were briefed in April on the DHSC proposals to reform the regulation of healthcare professionals and subsequently fed in our views on the key questions for the College.
2021.06.08 and 2021.04.29 Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members v2
2.5 Following further discussion at our June meeting, we received a draft of the RCN response to each of the 70 consultation questions posed and will be feeding in our final comments ahead of the RCN’s submission by the 16 June DHSC deadline.
Non-Nurses in RN Roles
2.6 Subject to minor amendment, we agreed the updated draft position paper on non-nurses in nursing roles following discussion at previous meetings and subsequent agreement of Council. This was published on our website on 9 June together with a press release warning against growing instances of people without registered nurse qualifications being employed for registered nursing roles.
2.7 There is further work to do to consider whether the RCN should also state that nursing titles should not be used for roles held by non- nurses such as Matron and Ward Sister, and whether traditional gender-based titles should continue to be used or if there are titles more fitting to contemporary nursing that should be identified.
3. Report of Our Meeting Held on 8 June 2021
Chair’s Update 3.1 I updated the Committee on the work of the Council task and finish group on organising and roll out of the ‘organising for power’ training being led by Jane McAlevey. There were mixed views reported on the programme and we will receive a more formal update on progress of this work to our next meeting.
3.2 Our new Nursing Matters podcast has been very well received and we already have an increasing audience of approximately 1,000 listeners per episode. Seven episodes have been recorded to date and we plan to continue these for the foreseeable future. Our next episode will focus on learning disability ahead of Learning Disability Awareness Week 2021. Director’s Update 3.3 We heard that Professor Ruth Harris, Chair of the RCN Research Society, had led work from Kings College London in partnership with the RCN to submit a bid to the National Institute for Health Research to provide an e-learning module for research. Subsequently we learned that the bid has been shortlisted and congratulate Ruth and Nursing Department colleagues on progress so far - we hope for a positive outcome.
2021.06.08 and 2021.04.29 Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members v2
3.4 We received an update on the continuing challenges of COVID, in particular ongoing discussion on whether vaccinations should be mandated or not. While it is currently not legally possible to mandate those already employed to have the vaccine, we recognise that this requirement could be included in the contracts of new employees and that the government is looking at whether it might change legislation to cover those with existing contracts. The RCN remains opposed to mandatory vaccination and we are keeping a close eye on developments.
3.5 We are continuing to highlight shared concerns regarding the protection of heath care workers from airborne transmission of COVID-19 following the joint open letter to the Prime Minister in February. We are aware that updated guidance has now been issued, however this still falls short of our expectations.
3.6 We received an update on the appointments process for the new Director of Nursing, Policy and Public Affairs.
Governance Review 2021
3.7 We received an update from the Chair of Council on progress of the 2021 governance review following last year’s AGM and are pleased that the Good Governance Institute has been commissioned to help take this work forward.
2021 Q1 Performance Dashboard and Work Programme
3.8 We reviewed the 2021 Q1 performance dashboard which reported progress against the Committee’s 2020 priorities and considered progress to date against our 2021 work programme.
3.9 Since the report was drafted, our KPIs for 2021 have been agreed in line with our new work programme and will be reported against from Q2.
3.10 Our 2021 priorities are: • Implementation of the Education, Learning and Development Strategy • Development of an RCN professional framework • Review of forums and networks • Staffing for Safe and Effective Care (SSEC) • Development of a research strategy • Inclusive nurse leadership • Work arising from Congress 2021
3.11 At this meeting we received detailed reports on work in relation to the professional framework, forums review, ELD strategy and next steps in the development of an RCN research strategy.
2021.06.08 and 2021.04.29 Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members v2
RCN Digital Strategy
3.12 We received a presentation on work to date on the ‘Every Nurse an eNurse’ initiative following the Congress decision to promote the role of nursing in digital ways of working.
3.13 The key priorities of the initiative are to: promote nurse leadership and nurse participation in the design, implementation and deployment of digital technologies across health and social care; support the development of digital skills within the nursing workforce; ensure the nursing voice is heard in key developments such as input to information standards that drive the future of health and social care. We discussed the need for nursing to demand better services from those responsible for delivering data modelling.
3.14 As a Committee we are extremely supportive of this work and agree with the direction of travel. We emphasised the need to ensure that this work is fully inclusive of the whole nursing workforce.
Independent Health and Social Care Sector Strategy
3.15 We received an update on the work of the newly established Independent Health and Social Care Sector Joint Partnership Board overseeing implementation of the transformational plan.
3.16 We were sighted on the planned workstreams of the Board and heard that workshops were ongoing to ensure the focus of the work is right and that it is fully inclusive of all our members in the independent sector.
UK Staffing for Safe and Effective Care (SSEC)
3.17 Helen Whyley, ET Lead and Director for RCN Wales, joined our meeting to feed back from the SSEC UK Programme Board. The workshop that took place earlier in 2021 had been an opportunity to enable the mapping of opportunities and risks in the post pandemic environment to agree key priorities, aims and objectives for a new updated SSEC workplan. A further workshop would be held the following day to further develop this workplan, which would come back to PNC for oversight and agreement.
3.18 The Committee expressed the view that it would be important to agree the RCN definition of ‘safe and effective care’. While this will be difficult, we felt this would be helpful in underpinning the work of this programme.
2021.06.08 and 2021.04.29 Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members v2
3.19 We were joined at our meeting by Rita Devlin, NI Associate Director, who updated us on the achievements of the SSEC campaign in Northern Ireland and the progress of safe staffing legislation which was one of the commitments made following RCN industrial action in 2019 and 2020. The Committee congratulated Rita and the team on their work.
3.20 Rita also briefed us on how ‘SenseMaker’ has been very successfully used in Northern Ireland to capture the lived experience of nursing in throughout the pandemic. The Committee recognised the power of personal stories and the value and significance of this data to the campaign.
RCN Transformation Strategy
3.21 We received a presentation from Aaron Clift on the work of the Transformation, Innovation and Digital team and implementation of the RCN transformation strategy.
3.22 The Committee congratulated Aaron on the progress of this work over the last year and recognised the ‘quick wins’ which have already been achieved.
3.23 There was a discussion on the use of digital platforms for a range of events, necessitated by the pandemic. While we recognise the many benefits to holding events digitally, we are also cognisant of the fact that nurses often feel isolated and lonely so we are keen to ensure face to face events also continue in the future. Digital exclusion remains a concern with some unable to join online events for a range of reasons including disability and poverty.
Country/ Regional Activity
3.24 Concerns were raised over the wording of the matter for discussion on the Congress 2021 agenda on whether nursing should be a degree educated profession and the risks of how this may be reported.
3.25 Concerns were raised over the capacity of country/ regional teams to effectively support the roll out of the Nursing Workforce Standards.
2021.06.08 and 2021.04.29 Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members v2
Professional Qualifications Bill
3.26 We were briefed on the Professional Qualifications Bill which was introduced in the House of Lords on 12 May 2021 and once it works its way through the legislative process and changes, will replace the Mutual Recognition of Professional Qualifications (MRPQ) Directive which facilitated the free movement of professionals to market their skills in EU member states.
3.27 We will be feeding in our views to inform RCN positioning on this ahead of lobbying action in the House of Lords on 5 July.
Other Business
3.28 We noted the RCN’s position on the national rollout of Serenity Integrated Mentoring and other similar models in England.
The Committee next meets on 21 July 2021.
Committee Membership
Rachel Hollis (Yorkshire and the Humber – CHAIR) Siobhan Donald (Northern Ireland – VICE CHAIR) Carly Boyce (South West) Mary Codling (South East) Theresa Connor (Scotland) Tracie Culpitt (Nursing Support Worker) Tim Grace (Northern) Julie Green (West Midlands) Sue Haines (East Midlands) Alison Leary (London) Denise Llewellyn (Wales) Kendal Moran (Student) Fiona Sommerville (Eastern) Sally Young (North West)
Apologies for the 29 April meeting were received from Alison Leary, Siobhan Donald, Theresa Connor, Julie Green and Sally Young.
Apologies for the 8 June meeting were received from Theresa Connor, Fiona Sommerville, Denise Llewellyn, Tim Grace and Julie Green.
Rachel Hollis Chair, Professional Nursing Committee [email protected]
2021.06.08 and 2021.04.29 Professional Nursing Committee Report to Members v2