Union leaders have threatened to ask double the number of nurses in England to go on strike at the beginning of February to put pressure on the government. They are blaming Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for his approach to pay disputes in the country’s health care system.
It was the RCN’s largest strike in history, and the union representing the RCN stated that additional walkouts would be announced if negotiations over pay continued to stall by the end of January. As a result, for the first time, the next set of strikes will include all eligible members in England.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen blamed the prime minister for his “baffling, reckless, and politically ill-considered” approach to the negotiations, insisting that the public supported the nurses in their pay dispute with the government.
Cullen stated, “The prime minister gave nursing staff some optimism that he was beginning to move, but seven days later he appears completely uninterested in finding a way to stop this.”
She went on to say that “nursing staff just wanted to be recognized and valued.” Sunak can’t put a price on a safe NHS because the shortage of nurses costs lives.
Doctors have stated that the NHS is in a very precarious situation due to units struggling to meet demand and health trusts and ambulance services declaring critical incidents. The UK prime minister has been criticized for his inaction regarding the chaos that exists throughout the country’s healthcare system.
also read: Emergency in Britain, a country stalled by waves of strike
A statement released on Saturday night by a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care stated that more than one million NHS employees had received at least a £1,400 pay increase this year. This statement offered no indication of a shift in strategy.
“We have given over one million NHS employees a pay increase of at least £1,400 this year and have fully accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body.” The spokesman added, “This is on top of a pay increase of 3% the year before when pay in the public sector was frozen and the government supported the cost of living more broadly.”
On Wednesday and Thursday, nurses from over 50 NHS trusts in England are scheduled to strike.
In addition, the RCN has stated that the upcoming strike is likely to take place on February 6 in honor of the tenth anniversary of the Robert Francis inquiry into the Mid Staffordshire NHS trust and the impact of nurse shortages on patient mortality.
The Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust was the focus of the Robert Francis inquiry, which found that hundreds of patients at Stafford Hospital were neglected between 2005 and 2009. Some elderly patients were reported to have been left lying in their own urine, unable to eat, drink, or take essential medications.
The union initially requested a pay increase of 19%, but it has indicated that it may accept a 10 percent increase. Instead, Downing Street is thinking about making health workers a “one-time” payment, possibly in the form of a hardship payment to help them get through this winter.
Rishi Sunak stated last week that the most important thing is that “talks are happening,” but he did not confirm or deny whether the government accepted the one-time payment.
This comes as ministers push for new anti-strike laws that require employees to provide a fundamental level of service during strikes or risk being fired.
The United Kingdom has been dealing with its largest strike wave in decades over the past few months. Airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving instructors, bus drivers, and postal workers are striking to demand higher pay to deal with the rising cost of living crisis and inflation.
source: The Guardian
