Nurses are striking on the biggest day of strikes in the NHS’s 75-year history as ongoing disputes over pay and working conditions continue to escalate.
The campaign, coordinated by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), is being run in 73 trusts across England and is targeting up to 40,000.
More than 11,000 ambulance workers affiliated with the GMB and Unite unions are also on strike and attending church services across England and Northern Ireland.
Health leaders have warned of “significant disruption” due to the scale of the action, while ministers have warned that patients’ lives are at risk due to delayed care and slower ambulance response times.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing went on strike at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on 6 February
Nurses at St Thomas’ Hospital in London are joining the strike on 6 February
The RCN is calling for a pay rise of 18.4 per cent based on current inflation. The average nurse’s salary will rise from £37,000 to £43,800.
But the union said it would end the current strike if the government met its representative to discuss wages.
Pat Cullen, chief executive of the RCN, said in a letter to the prime minister at the weekend: “Please resolve this current impasse. I have made it clear that starting negotiations and making sensible offers can prevent strikes.”
READ MORE No wonder the NHS can’t afford union pay demands: On the day of the biggest strike ever, we announce the healthcare system is spending £400,000 A DAY on private ambulances and patient taxis
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Desperate bosses are increasingly turning to the commercial sector, and spending on private ambulances and taxis has risen by 62 per cent in just three years. The bill has risen to £145m by 2022 – almost £400,000 a day
The government insisted that its offer of around 4 per cent, or £1,400, was all it could afford. The deal, which was awarded last year, was backed by the NHS Pay Review Body.
On Friday, the Welsh Government offered NHS staff an additional three per cent pay rise for the current financial year. In response, the RCN canceled planned strikes in the country this week.
No strikes are planned in Scotland as the government negotiates with the union.
Writing to Rishi Sunak, Ms Cullen said: “Your Government looks increasingly isolated in its refusal to resume discussions on the 2022-23 NHS pay allocation.
As a result, strike action continues for England – with tens of thousands of nurses losing their pay to make sure their voices are heard. It should not be in vain.
“This will be the biggest day of union action in the 75-year history of the NHS. Nurses find it a sobering realization of how far they have been pushed to protect patient care and gain some respect for the nursing profession.
“I call on you to publicly reposition your government and show that it stands with the hardworking, decent taxpayers. There is no easier way to show this commitment than to quickly end the nurses’ strike.”
But Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the strikes were “regrettable” and would “undoubtedly” affect patients and cause delays in services, despite NHS bosses having contingency plans in place.
He said: “We have accepted the recommendations of the Independent Pays Verification Body to give more than 1 million NHS workers, including nurses and ambulance workers, a pay rise of at least £1,400 this financial year, on top of a rise last year which is a broader pay level introduced in the public sector.
“I have had constructive discussions with unions about what is affordable for 2023/24 and urge them to end the strikes and come back to the table.”
Maria Caulfield, Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women’s Health Strategy, has called on the RCN to end the strikes, warning that patients’ lives are at risk the longer the action continues.
She said: “There is a risk to patients the longer the strikes last.
“So if your surgery doesn’t go through the first time, there’s probably minimal risk.
“If this does not happen again and again due to continuous strikes, then the patients are worse off and there is always a risk.
“And with ambulance strikes, if someone has a heart attack or stroke, the longer the response time, that increases someone’s risk.”
Ms Caulfield, who is also a registered nurse and a member of the RCN, told Times Radio that Mr Barclay met with health unions almost weekly in January and these meetings “definitely served to talk about wages”.
NHS workers protested outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on 6 February
NHS workers protested outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on 6 February
NHS doctors on the placard line outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on February 6
NHS doctors stage industrial action at St Mary’s Hospital in London on 6 February
NHS doctors stage industrial action at St Mary’s Hospital in London on 6 February
She added: “We are delighted to be talking about next year’s pay, which is exactly what they did in Scotland and the RCN called off the strikes as a result.”
Asked if those talks would include wages for 2022/23, Ms Caulfield replied: “In Scotland they’re not talking about last year’s wages either, so that’s my point, we’re in the same place as Scotland.
“In England, unions have withdrawn from the independent pay review process, which doesn’t help at all because we want to present our evidence, make our case for what is affordable and what we are prepared to offer, but unions must also act, just like the previous times Year.
“And we’ll ask them to go back into that process because we want to make it right for patients more than anybody else.”
Ms Caulfield told GB News she had “a lot of sympathy” for striking nurses but said the government had a responsibility to the taxpayer and we had an independent process with the Pay Verification Body, which the unions joined and they are very satisfied with goods’. the settlement last year’.
She added: “And it’s difficult for us now if we want to give nurses a salary (increase), we’ll have to look at teachers and ambulance drivers.
“We simply cannot afford the inflation-limiting wage increases that the unions are currently demanding.”
Striking GMB ambulance workers went on strike outside Fazakerley Ambulance Station in Liverpool on 6 February
Striking GMB ambulance workers went on strike outside Fazakerley Ambulance Station in Liverpool on 6 February
Striking GMB ambulance workers went on strike outside Fazakerley Ambulance Station in Liverpool on 6 February
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Today is a very important moment.
“Having both paramedics and nurses means the logistical planning exercise for trusts has been significant.”
With fewer ambulances on the road and nurses in hospital, bosses were working to discharge patients from hospital and rebook both surgical and outpatient appointments, he said.
Sir Julian said: “We expect significant disruption in terms of scheduled care, outpatients and electives, but of course ensure we prioritize patient safety for emergency and emergency care.”
He urged the government to open talks with nurses and warned that strikes would “really put an end to” the record backlog being cleared and emergency care restored.
Sir Julian added: “We cannot continue with a series of union actions which really lose sight of these priorities.
“I cannot stress enough how much work is being done in organizations to limit and limit union action. Our focus must be on helping patients like the NHS in these important areas.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
