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Editorial Elaine Cole DEPUTY EDITOR

@prideinnursing

Nursing vote could prove crucial in next election If any of the political parties want to know how to persuade nurses to support them at the forthcoming election, they would do well to read Nursing Standard this week. Our exclusive survey on nurses’ voting intentions and what they want the next government to prioritise shows that ensuring safe staffing levels and paying nurses a fair wage remain key to winning their votes. Nurses have long been arguing for many of the items on their election wishlist – fewer managers, less paperwork, no more unrealistic targets, more investment in training and reducing the spend on agency staff. However, the overwhelming focus of our 2,800 respondents reflects the current landscape – a meagre 1 per cent pay rise if they are lucky, a likely assault on their unsocial hours payments and increasing concerns about the impact of cuts to nurse numbers.

IS IT TOO MUCH TO HOPE THAT AT THIS ELECTION POLITICIANS WILL ACTUALLY LISTEN?

Given these decisions it is unsurprising that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats fare so badly in our poll – currently attracting 12.2 per cent and 3.7 per cent of nurse support respectively. But Labour should not rest on its laurels – many nurses are still undecided and have made it clear they want to see commitments to safe staffing and wages that reflect what they do day in, day out, and all through the night too. Who could blame nurses if they ignored the general election altogether? After all, we are living with the consequences of the ‘no top down reorganisation of the NHS’ election pledge of 2010. But our survey shows they are keen to make their voices heard. And with one quarter of nurses declaring themselves still undecided there is a lot of support to play for. In fact there are 194 seats that could be considered marginal and, as each constituency has about 1,800 nursing staff, their votes could be decisive. So nurses should make it clear that they will translate those views into votes on polling day. Is it too much to hope that with the election predicted to be tight, politicians will actually listen? See news page 7 and analysis page 12

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