Patricia MarquisUnion

Biography

Patricia Marquis is Executive Director for England at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the UK's largest professional nursing union and trade body. She qualified as a Registered Nurse in Blackpool, worked briefly in the US, then spent many years as a specialist orthopaedic nurse in Oxfordshire before becoming an RCN workplace representative. She joined the RCN as a member of staff more than 25 years ago and previously served as Regional Director for the South East, before being appointed acting Director for England in June 2021 and confirmed permanently in January 2022. She is known for campaigning on safe staffing legislation in England, fair pay for nursing staff, and the nursing recruitment and retention crisis, and has publicly raised concerns about corridor care, public health nursing investment, and the financial pressures driving nursing students out of training.

References

1. 1.RCN appoints Patricia Marquis as new director for England – Nursing Times — Confirms permanent appointment as Director for England in January 2022, orthopaedic nursing background, prior RCN rep and staff history of 25+ years, and stated priorities of safe staffing and fair pay
2. 2.RCN Executive Team – Royal College of Nursing — Official RCN staff page confirming her current role, background qualifying in Blackpool, working in US and Oxfordshire as orthopaedic nurse, becoming RCN rep and then staff member
3. 3.RCN appoints new permanent director for England – Nursing in Practice — Confirms most recent prior role as Regional Director for the South East before England appointment
4. 4.Royal College of Nursing responds to public health grant allocations for 25/26 – RCN — Evidences her public advocacy on public health nursing investment and her use of the title Executive Director for England in official RCN press releases

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Safe staffing legislation
• Nursing pay and workforce policy
• Nursing recruitment and retention
• Public health nursing
• Corridor care and NHS capacity
• Nurse education and student support

Notable achievements

• Appointed permanent Executive Director for England at the RCN in January 2022, having served as acting Director since June 2021, becoming the lead RCN voice on nursing workforce issues in England. Source ↗
• Met with Health Minister Stephen Kinnock MP to seek clarity on nursing staff pay in general practice following a 4% pay increase for GPs, resulting in a joint RCN–BMA statement urging GP partners to pass on the uplift to nursing staff. Source ↗
• Publicly called for targeted investment to grow public health nursing roles—including health visitors and school nurses—in response to the 2025/26 public health grant allocations. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “An explosion in 12-hour waits is the clearest indicator that corridor care is now a year-round crisis. There has been no respite for understaffed nursing teams during a record summer and they will now be worried about what the coming winter has in store.”

  Executive Director for England at the Royal College of Nursing · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS corridor care now year-round crisis in England, experts say ↗

Source references

1. NHS corridor care now year-round crisis in England, experts saytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.rcn.org.uk/About-us/Our-governance/How-we-work/Our-structure/RCN-Executive-Team
• Xhttps://twitter.com/PMarquisRCNpublished here ↗
• Press office emailMediaTeamHQ@rcn.org.ukpublished here ↗
• Websitehttps://www.rcn.org.uk/About-us/Press-office

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.