Nursing unions today threatened to go on strike until Christmas as ministers warned the NHS pay deal is a ‘full and final offer’.
The Royal College of Nursing announced on Friday that its members are walking out for 48 hours from 8pm on April 30 after rejecting the settlement.
For the first time, employees of emergency care, intensive care and cancer departments are taking action.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, RCN chief Pat Cullen demanded that conditions be improved to prevent further action – and refused to rule out collaboration with junior doctors.
But Tory chairman Greg Hands pointed out that other NHS staff accepted the ‘big’ package, suggesting there is little room to improve it now that inflation is rampant and government finances are under strain.
Shadow Secretary Wes Streeting accused the government of “dereliction of duty” for failing to end the strikes. However, he expressed concern about the RCN dropping patient safety safeguards, making it clear that Labor would not support that.
Ms Cullen insisted that nurses will come off the picket lines to deal with emergencies.
The Royal College of Nursing announced on Friday that its members are walking out for 48 hours from 8pm on April 30 after rejecting the settlement.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, RCN chief Pat Cullen demanded conditions be improved to prevent further action – and refused to rule out coordination with junior doctors
Tory chairman Greg Hands pointed out that other NHS staff accepted the ‘big’ package, suggesting there is little room to improve it now that inflation is rampant and government finances are under strain
Asked on the Laura Kuenssberg On Sunday program if the RCN will end strikes, Ms Cullen said: ‘No, our nurses absolutely will not.
‘At the end of this month and the beginning of May we will have a strike action.
‘Then we will immediately proceed to the voting of our members.
“If that vote passes, it means more strikes until Christmas.”
The union leader presented the government’s offer to the members. But she said nurses saw a one-off Covid bonus as a “bribe”.
NHS Providers deputy director Saffron Cordery told the program it is ‘unsustainable’ for the NHS to continue to manage strike action.
She said: ‘It is really clear to me that it is not sustainable for the NHS to manage strike action in the future.
“It feels like a very ugly situation to say that we will now have strikes until Christmas.
“We desperately need the government to come to the table with the unions to resolve this.”
In an article for The Sun on Sunday, Health Secretary Steve Barclay warned that new nurse strikes would have a “deeply worrying” impact on emergency services and cancer care.
On Friday, Unison’s NHS members accepted the wage offer of a 5 per cent increase this year and a cash payment for last year.
However, 54 percent of RCN members voted against the deal.
The turnout among RCN members working on NHS Agenda for Change contracts in England was 61 per cent.
The RCN announcement came as about 47,000 junior doctors ended their 96-hour strike in a separate wage dispute at 7 a.m. Saturday.
Mr Streeting appealed to the RCN to continue protecting life-saving emergency aid should it strike again.
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “I am very concerned about the risk of escalating the nature of their dispute, to scrap the so-called derogations, the measures they have taken to protect those areas of concern .’
Mr Streeting said of the strikes: ‘I’m really concerned about it, particularly the decision they seem to have taken to withdraw anomalies – the exemptions they’ve put in place before around emergency care, cancer care – I think that is a real risk to patient safety…
“We don’t want to see strikes continue in the NHS, we don’t want to see an escalation.”
When asked if Labor would support strikes, he said: ‘No, how could I? There is a risk to patient safety, that would not be good.’
Mr Hands said a ‘full and final’ wage offer had been made to nurses, adding that ministers are waiting to see if the other unions accept it.
“We believe we have made a fair and reasonable offer,” he told the Sophy Ridge On Sunday program on Sky News.
“It is a full and final offer. But we are waiting for the other results from the other unions…
Mr Streeting appealed to the RCN to continue protecting life-saving emergency aid should it strike again
“It is only reasonable that we wait for those further results in the middle of the voting process and we will provide an answer.
“We will of course also be meeting with NHS staff unions to make sure we can move forward on that.”
He added: “Steve Barclay is always willing to talk, as long as there are no conditions attached and as long as there is no threat of strikes at the moment.”
Mr Hands said more strikes by nurses would ‘clearly have an impact’.
“I think the public is very concerned, understandably, and we will do everything we can, and I am sure the NHS management will do everything they can to ensure that the impact of the strike is kept under control. ‘ he said.
“But I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say it will have an impact. Striking nurses will clearly have an impact.’
