The Royal College of Nursing has announced the results of its Council elections for 12 posts representing different UK constituencies and health practitioner members.
Sucessful candidates included Amy Fancourt, an MSc student of Adult and Mental Health Nursing in London, was elected to represent students UK-wide in December. In July, BJ Waltho was elected Chair of RCN Congress. No election was held in the Eastern Region of England; Janice Waters was elected to Council for the region in October 2018.
Geoff Earl, the newly elected representative for Scotland wrote on Twitter: ‘In January we will have our first RCN Council meeting. This will be the start of not just a new Council, but a new type of Council. This is just the beginning of the campaign to return control of the RCN back to its members.’
‘The field of candidates was exceptionally strong and the College is fortunate to attract people with such broad experience to these top roles,’ said Professor Dame Donna Kinnair, Acting RCN Chief Executive and General Secretary.
‘On behalf of all the staff at the College, I wish to congratulate the successful candidates and look forward to working closely with them in 2019 on the biggest challenges facing our profession. I offer my personal gratitude to members of Council whose terms of office end this month – they are a credit to nursing and our organisation.’
The Council consists of one representative each from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and one from each of England’s nine regions. It also includes a member to represent healthcare practitioners and one for students, who were elected separately earlier this month
‘The nursing profession faces some of the most significant challenges in a generation and this Council will oversee the launch of fresh campaigning efforts by the RCN to attract people into nursing, arrest the decline in workforce supply and enshrine safe staffing levels in law in every part of the UK,’ added Dame Donna. Last month, the RCN announced the results of its Presidential and Deputy President elections, which were won by Anne Marie Rafferty and Yvonne Coghill respectively.
The full list of those elected to council:
- Health Practitioner – Evan Keir [newly elected]
- Northern Ireland – Ann Marie O’Neill [newly elected]
- Scotland – Geoff Earl [newly elected]
- Wales – Richard Jones MBE [ re-elected, elected uncontested]
- East Midlands – Deirdre Sissons [newly elected]
- London – Cynthia Davis [re-elected]
- Northern – Trevor Peel [re-elected]
- North West – Dave Dawes [re-elected]
- South East – Heather Mercer [newly elected]
- South West – Geoffrey Walker [newly elected]
- West Midlands – Sue Warner [re-elected]
- Yorkshire and the Humber – Carol Popplestone [re-elected]