Midwives across the UK will today vote on whether to pursue nurses’ strikes this winter.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) today sent out ballot letters to members in England and Wales urging them to support industrial action against the Government’s “offensive” offer of a four per cent or £1,400 pay rise.
The union is already negotiating with members in Northern Ireland to strike. And midwives in Scotland backed “overwhelming” union action last month. The election in England remains open for four weeks.
It comes amid a winter of discontent that will see hundreds of thousands of NHS doctors. Strikes among nurses were confirmed this week, while junior doctors and paramedics could also join strikes.
However, a growing number of members of the Royal College of Nursing are withdrawing from the “irresponsible” measure over fears patients’ lives could be “at risk”.
The government has so far resisted calls for a further increase in medics’ wages, saying it has “failed to negotiate with the unions”. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday said calls for increases of up to 17 per cent were “priceless”.
Official figures show that at the end of September 7.1 million people in England were queuing for routine hospital treatments such as hip and knee operations – the equivalent of one in eight people (red line). The number includes more than 400,000 people who have been waiting for more than a year, often in pain (yellow bars).
Meanwhile, emergency room performance has weakened to new lows. More than 1,400 ED visitors had to wait more than 12 hours for care each day in October (yellow bars), while the lowest percentage on record was seen within four hours – the NHS target (red line).
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Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
