9 NOVEMBER 2022 | NEWS
For the first time in the 106-year history of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), nurses across the UK have voted to strike by the end of the year over a pay dispute with the Government.
Members of the union, which represents roughly two-thirds of NHS nurses, will walk out from more than half of hospitals and community teams.
The strike action will be implemented by employees working for 176 NHS organisations across the country.
RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen said: “Anger has become action – our members are saying enough is enough.
“Our members will no longer tolerate a financial knife-edge at home and a raw deal at work.”
She is urging Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to use his upcoming Budget to come up with extra money to pay nurses in order to avoid a prolonged dispute.
“Ministers must look in the mirror and ask how long they will put nursing staff through this,” Cullen said.
“While we plan our strike action, next week’s Budget is the UK Government’s opportunity to signal a new direction with serious investment.”
However, Cullen has assured that RCN members would protect patients by continuing to provide urgent and emergency care during any strikes.
The union is asking for a pay rise of 5% above the RPI rate of inflation, which stands at over 12%.
The new announcement follows prolonged campaigning by the Corbynite campaign group Nurses United, which over the past two years has been advocating for higher pay for nursing staff.
While it had originally been advocating for a 10% pay rise – well before inflation began soaring – it then switched to asking for 15% within minutes of the RCN announcing that it would campaign for 12.5% last year.
One nurse who supports the action told Wolves: “Nurses’ pay needs to be in line with other professionals.
“If we don’t do something now, we wont have any nurses for the future.”
They also expressed concern for the fact that there already aren’t enough nurses and that this puts patients at risk.
But the Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, is urging the RCN and the Government to negotiate.
He said: “The last thing anyone wants is a ‘war of attrition’ playing out over many months.”
NHS bosses have promised have pledged to prioritise emergency services such as A&E throughout the period of industrial action.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he “deeply regretted” the fact that some RCN members had voted to strike.
“Our priority is keeping patients safe during any strikes. The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption and ensure emergency services continue to operate.”
I have great sympathy and understandinf for nurses and all medical staff. It is the management that needs to take a good look at itself. They are so busy being important and above it all they have no idea of the reality on the ground.