The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced the appointment of its new president and deputy president.
Senior nurse working in critical care Bejoy Sebastian has been elected as the new RCN president – replacing Sheilabye Sobrany who has been in post since January 2023.
And Professor Alison Leary, senior consultant at the World Health Organization and Professor of healthcare modelling at London Southbank University has been elected as the deputy president. She replaces Tracey Budding.
Mr Sebastian, who works University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is the chair of the International Nursing and Midwifery Association Forum network in the UK.
He moved to the UK in March 2011 from Kerala, and has worked to raise the profile of internationally educated nursing staff, ‘helping them thrive in their careers and identifying the barriers they face in the workplace’, the RCN said.
Mr Sebastian said it was a ‘true honour’ to be elected as the RCN’s new president.
‘I have great aspirations for this role, and together we can make the nursing profession more valued and respected,’ he added.
‘I want to ensure all members are engaging with the college so we have a stronger, united voice.’
The RCN’s new deputy president Professor Leary, who recently retired from clinical practice, has carried out research on the impact of the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) on practice nurses, as well as the roll out of a seemingly problematic digital badge scheme for advanced nurse practitioners.
Professor Leary, who was a member of the college’s Professional Nursing Committee, said she was ‘excited’ for her new role.
‘There are so many issues affecting the nursing profession, from poor working conditions to pay injustice, and I believe we can continue to use our collective strength to drive improvements for our members,’ she added.
‘Nursing staff are safety critical and our unique contribution to the delivery of patient care must be valued.’
They will both start in post on 1 January 2025, alongside those elected to 12 country and regional RCN Council seats:
- Neil Thompson for East Midlands
- Natalie Brooks for Eastern
- Jennifer Caguioa for London
- Andrea Walters for Northern (elected unopposed)
- Carmel O’Boyle for North West
- Anne Campbell for Northern Ireland
- Leanne Patrick for Scotland
- Sally Bassett for South East
- Ashleigh Taylor for South West
- Nicola Milligan for Wales
- Sian Grbin for Yorkshire and the Humber
- Olga Leach-Walters for West Midlands.
- Mark Jarnell has been elected to represent nursing support workers and Ademola Adesanya will represent student members.
The remaining 14 seats on RCN Council are directly elected from the RCN’s nine England regions, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and by its student and nursing support worker members.
RCN general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Ranger congratulated those successfully elected.
‘As the world’s largest nursing union and professional body, being at the top of our game in decision-making is crucial,’ she said.
‘And that requires dynamic, experienced nursing leaders who care deeply about our profession and who represent every one of our members, at every career stage.’
She added: ‘We set out this year to radically increase our diversity and inclusivity as an organisation – it’s what members need and deserve.
‘The people elected today and who will be our lead members for the coming years are another big step towards that brighter future.
I look forward to working together with a clear vision to build on the strengths of our great college.’
RCN members were able to vote for contested seats between 14 October and 11 November, which were then counted and verified by an independent scrutineer.
Voting for the last RCN elections was postponed in 2022 to avoid coinciding with the union’s industrial action over pay and workforce issues at the time.
And the 2020 presidential election process was initially scrapped before being relaunched in 2021 after the RCN faced backlash for disqualifying two candidates.
