Patricia Marquis

Who Patricia Marquis is

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 for this biography

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
5. 5.'Country needs more nurses than are being accepted' – RCN press release — Confirms title 'Executive Director for RCN England' in an official RCN press release and evidences her public commentary on nursing recruitment shortfalls
6. 6.Patricia Marquis – Voices of Care podcast, Newcross Healthcare — Confirms over 40 years of nursing experience and her public advocacy on corridor care, nursing student financial pressures, recruitment and retention, and student debt forgiveness proposals
7. 7.Fair pay for general practice nursing staff – Royal College of Nursing — Evidences her meeting with Minister Stephen Kinnock MP on GP nursing pay and the joint RCN–BMA statement

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 Patricia Marquis has said

• “As salaried general practitioners see their pay increase, many nursing staff working in general practice are still waiting to see any uplift in their salary from last year. The government is clear in its message that general practice staff should be included in this pay uplift, and we expect this to be honoured.”

  Executive Director of RCN England · GP access · 30 Sept 2026 · GP nursing pay: what the DDRB announcement means for you | News ↗

• “nursing needed 'a seat at the top table' when it comes to general practice funding”

  Royal College of Nursing England director · GP access · 30 Sept 2026 · Nursing in Practice takes general practice nurse pay concerns to Parliament ↗

• “This was a significant move forward in our fight for fair pay, terms and conditions, inclusion and recognition for nursing staff working in primary care.”

  Executive Director of RCN England · GP access · 30 Sept 2026 · RCN stands up for nursing staff in general practice at parliamentary event ↗

• “Without nursing staff, primary care services simply would not function.”

  executive director of Royal College of Nursing (RCN) England · GP access · 30 Sept 2026 · General practice nurse pay: A salary survey of the profession 2026 ↗

• “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. Ministers need to act with urgency before the cold weather arrives and stop patients being placed in corridors, cupboards, waiting rooms and any space hospitals can spare.”

  Executive director for England, Royal College of Nursing · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 8 Sept 2026 · Lib Dems call for emergency measures to ease A&E pressures ↗

• “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 ↗

Where Patricia Marquis has been quoted

1. GP access changes trigger concerns over nurse workload and patient safetynursinginpractice.com · 30 Sept 2026
2. GP nursing pay: what the DDRB announcement means for you | Newsrcn.org.uk · 30 Sept 2026
3. Nursing in Practice takes general practice nurse pay concerns to Parliamentnursinginpractice.com · 30 Sept 2026
4. RCN stands up for nursing staff in general practice at parliamentary eventrcn.org.uk · 30 Sept 2026
5. General practice nurse pay: A salary survey of the profession 2026nursinginpractice.com · 30 Sept 2026
6. Lib Dems call for emergency measures to ease A&E pressuresnursingtimes.net · 8 Sept 2026
7. NHS corridor care now year-round crisis in England, experts saytheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Riverland local news briefing Monday, October 12, 2026ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation
• Primary Care Partnership Could Be A Key Test For Centene (CNC)Simply Wall Street
• Centene (CNC) Expands Primary Care Access In Indiana And MissouriSimply Wall Street

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.