Nurses’ pay-offer petition: half of signatures were fraudulent

Cyber experts found multiple bogus signatories in petition to RCN that was designed to prompt no-confidence vote in college’s leaders following NHS pay offer

Half of the signatures on a petition demanding a meeting to call a no-confidence vote in the RCN’s leaders were submitted fraudulently, an investigation has found.

In one case, even the details of a deceased RCN member had been used, cyber security experts confirmed.

Purported signatories called for meeting to push for no-confidence vote

The online petition called for an extraordinary general meeting of the college to secure the no-confidence vote, following the announcement of a new pay offer for NHS staff in England in March. College leaders had originally recommended members accept the offer, but the membership went on to reject it in a ballot.

Once the petition reached the required 1,000 signatures, it was sent to the RCN, which later became suspicious about the authenticity of some entries.

• RELATED: RCN calls in cyber security firm over pay offer petition fraud

Some college members also said their details had been used to sign the petition without their consent. The document was open to anyone with an RCN membership – or access to membership details – to sign.

Cyber security investigation

In response to concerns, the college appointed cyber security consultants in early April to investigate, who concluded approximately half of all signatures had been submitted without the consent of those named.

The investigation found no evidence of an internal data breach. The college has apologised to members for any personal distress the situation has caused.

The RCN’s annual general meeting in July will discuss potential changes to the rules for calling an EGM to avoid any further misuse of members’ details.

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