The deadlock between the UK governments and unions continues on Thursday as thousands of nurses in England are striking for a second day.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) from 55 NHS trusts in England are taking a two-day action after up to 100,000 RCN members from other NHS trusts across the UK walked out in December over pay disputes.
Meanwhile, more than 1,000 Unite members in the Welsh Ambulance Service are staging a strike on Thursday and the following Monday.
In England, RCN previously demanded the Conservative government reopen the pay deal for the year 2022/2023 and offer a pay rise that’s 5 percent above inflation, which ministers said was the equivalent of 19 percent. The union later said it would accept a 10 percent pay offer, but Health Secretary Barclay said on Wednesday that the figure is still not affordable.
Speaking to broadcasters on a visit to Northwick Park Hospital, Barclay said a 10 percent pay rise would cost “an extra £3.6 billion a year” and is “not affordable,” insisting that the pay review bodies are “the right way to balance the affordability” of the pay deals.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told broadcasters that the ministers are “very keen to have a constructive dialogue” with unions across the public sector and “find a constructive way forward” to end the strikes, but said the conversations have to be based on “what’s affordable” and “what reasonable,” adding, “what’s responsible for the country as we tackle inflation, which is good for everybody if we can get that down as quickly as possible.”
Speaking to PA News Agency on Wednesday, respiratory nurse specialist Chris Yates said he has not “had a substantial pay rise at all” for 13 years, and is struggling to pay rent in central London.
But several nurses also said they are striking because the gaps in the workforce are undermining patient safety.
“Pay is essential to the recruitment and retention of a dedicated and skilled workforce, and the levels of staffing are just not safe,” Delyth McEntee, a specialist nurse treating lung cancer said outside the Christie hospital in south Manchester.
Stephanie, 33, a nurse of 13 years, from Stockport, said: “We have reached the limit, it is the way we feel.
“It has come to the point now it is safer to strike than let this situation carry on. Pay is one thing but this is to do with staffing and the skill levels in staffing. The issues are deeper than just pay,” she said.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen told PA on Thursday that nurses are “deeply disappointed” that Barcley had ruled out a 10 percent pay settlement.
“They say this is just another move to turn their backs on the fantastic nursing staff that have kept us all going through a very, very incredible period, which was the pandemic and long before it,” she said.
“It is disdainful and pushing through anti-strike legislation has been another disdainful move by this government.”
She urged Sunak to “grab the olive branch,” saying, “It is in his hands to stop the strikes that are planned for the beginning of February.”
RCN has threatened to stage its biggest yet strikes on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7, which will involve 73 NHS trusts in England and all but one NHS employer in Wales, unless the government agrees to review the pay deal for this year.
Meanwhile, GMB union has said more than 10,000 ambulance workers, including paramedics, emergency care assistants, and call handlers, will stage strikes on Feb. 6—the same day on which nurses are striking—and on Feb. 20, March 6, and March 20.
The Tory government is trying to push through a bill that would give ministers the power to set minimum service levels for during strikes in crucial public services, but the bill is opposed by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Labour has said the bill would effectively ban people in certain jobs from ever striking, while Cullen said the staff shortages meant “minimum staffing levels are not available for our patients or our nurses on any day of the week.”
In Wales, the RCN has said the Labour government “continue to fail dismally” to resolve the pay dispute and address the NHS staffing crisis.
RCN in December rejected a revised offer from the Scottish National Party (SNP) government, but has paused announcing further strikes last week as talks are ongoing. The union has also said its members in Northern Ireland won’t join the strikes next month.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, waiting time for hospital treatments and emergency departments have grown to record high because of delayed or missed diagnoses and treatment.
In England alone, by the end of October, 6.95 million people referred for hospital treatment were on waiting lists, slightly down from 7.07 million in the previous month, which was the highest since records began in 2007.
When estimates for missing data are included, the number became 7.21 million, setting a new record high.
Figures from Scotland and Wales show their NHS trusts are also buckling under pressures including post-pandemic backlogs and flu and COVID-19 cases.
But there is some good news from NHS England on Thursday. According to its latest figures, the number of flu patients last week has reduced to 3,447 a day on average, down 35 percent from the previous week.
