Tens of thousands of NHS nurses go on strike
Tens of thousands of nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have walked out in the biggest strike in nursing history.
But services in the West Midlands were largely maintained on Thursday as strike action in the region was limited.
Around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England, alongside all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales, were part of the industrial action.
Nurses walked out in parts of Birmingham and Worcestershire, but not enough voted in strike ballots for main hospitals in the Black Country, most of Shropshire and parts of Staffordshire to make them valid.
Picket lines formed outside main hospitals in Birmingham, including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Good Hope and Heartlands.
Staff did vote to strike at the The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Shropshire, which takes patients from across the region, but they are not involved in the first wave of action.
Health minister Maria Caulfield said around 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries were lost in England due to the strike. Thousands more will be affected in Northern Ireland and Wales.
She said: “Cancer surgeries are going to be closed in those 44 trusts in England. We reckon it’s about 70,000 appointments, procedures, surgeries that will be lost.”
The health service was running a bank holiday-style service in many areas, though the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said it would still staff chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care, alongside several other services.
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said trusts are “pulling out all the stops” to reduce the impact on patients.
It comes after RCN chief executive Pat Cullen accused Health Secretary Steve Barclay of “belligerence” after he refused to discuss the issue of pay.
Mr Barclay has said the Government is sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review body, which said nurses should get a pay rise of around £1,400.
The RCN has been calling for a pay rise at five per cent above inflation, though it has indicated it would accept a lower offer.
When it submitted the 5% figure to the independent pay review body in March, inflation was running at 7.5%.
But inflation has since soared, with RPI standing at 14.2% in September.
The RCN has also raised the issue of huge staff vacancies in the NHS, with 47,000 nurse vacancies in England alone.
Mr Barclay said nurses were “incredibly dedicated to their job” and “it is deeply regrettable some union members are going ahead with strike action”.
He added: “My number one priority is to keep patients safe – I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels – but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients.
“Nevertheless, the NHS is open and patients should continue to seek urgent medical care – and attend appointments – unless they’ve been contacted by the NHS.”
He said paying nurses more “would mean taking money away from frontline services at a time when we are tackling record waiting lists as a result of the pandemic”.
But pressure is mounting on the Government find a compromise on pay, with former Conservative Party chairman Sir Jake Berry saying it “is going to have to improve its offer”.
“We need to find a way as a Government, and the union does too, to get to that centre point, that point of agreement straight away,” he told Talk TV.
During the strike, nurses will man picket lines at major NHS hospitals, including Guy’s and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust in London, Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge and University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
On Wednesday, the head of NHS Employers said “real concerns” remain about the level of cover nurses will provide for cancer patients during the strike.
In a letter to NHS leaders, Danny Mortimer said some aspects of talks with the RCN had been disappointing and warned that “unless the Government indicates a willingness to negotiate on pay-related matters, further strike dates will be announced by the RCN for January 2023 and beyond”.
A second RCN nurse strike is set for December 20, while thousands of ambulance workers will go on strike on December 21.
The RCN has urged agency workers not to cover for striking staff.
Elsewhere, midwives and maternity support workers in Wales have voted to strike, though the ballot in England did not meet the legal turnout threshold.
