Cullen steps down

Pat Cullen has stepped down from her post as general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to seek election to Parliament in the forthcoming general election.

She is to stand as a Sinn Féin candidate in Fermanagh and South Tyrone.

Cullen spent eight years at the RCN, the last three in the top role, where she led the union in the strike action covering the whole of England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the first time in the union’s history. She also presided over a large increase in RCN membership.

She said it had been “the honour of my life to have served in the RCN and to provide leadership every day to hundreds of thousands of hardworking nurses and healthcare staff”.

Her deputy, Nicola Ranger, has taken on the role in an acting capacity while the RCN seeks a permanent replacement.