A Brighton MP has said she is “proud, humbled and inspired” to stand with nurses while speaking at a conference earlier today.
Caroline Lucas praised the Royal College of Nursing for “protecting the integrity of the NHS” while speaking at the group’s annual conference in Brighton.
The Brighton Pavilion MP also called for a “Green approach” to nursing and healthcare including making clean air a human right.
Speaking at the RCN Congress at the Brighton Centre earlier today, Ms Lucas said: “As nurses you see and feel the very real-time impacts day in day out and as RCN members you take a stand which is about protecting the integrity of the NHS.
“You and your colleagues keep the NHS on its feet, but too much is being asked of you and things urgently need to change.
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“You are standing up for all our rights; for our parents, our children, our grandchildren, for everyone to be able to access a remarkable national health service.
“A big principle is at stake – a sustainable, public NHS for future generations. I am proud, humbled and inspired to stand in solidarity with each and every one of you.”
In her speech to RCN members, Ms Lucas conveyed her “deep appreciation” for the work of nurses and RCN staff in providing care as well as standing up to protect the NHS.
She called for clean air to be made a human right in the wake of the death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death.
She also called for greater rights to access nature and an end to food poverty to help create a more sustainable NHS.
Ms Lucas also referred to the recent Care Quality Commission report into the Royal Sussex County Hospital and University Hospitals Sussex Foundation Trust which uncovered “bullying” and “harassment”.
The CQC report found that “staff believed there was a culture of bullying and harassment which pressured them in to making unsafe decisions.”
The Royal College of Nursing conference is taking place in Brighton from May 14 until May 18.
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