Firefighters join members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on the picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London
(Picture: PA Wire)Britain is facing a week of strike chaos as nurses and ambulance workers prepare to stage industrial action.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay on Sunday signalled that he would not budge on offering a further pay rise to NHS workers, despite calls from some Tory MPs for him to open pay negotiations with health unions to halt the upcoming strikes.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will walk out on Tuesday, a day before 10,000 ambulance workers affiliated to the GMB, Unite and Unison stage industrial action. Strikes will affect nine of the 10 ambulance services in England and Wales, including the London Ambulance Service (LAS).
Border Force staff are also set to strike on Friday, along with Royal Mail workers.
The RCN has demanded a pay rise of 5 per cent above inflation, claiming the Government’s current offer of a £1,400 pay rise is insufficient to shield staff from the rising cost of living. Unions representing ambulance workers have not made a specific pay demand.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday evening, Mr Barclay said he was “keen” to "continue a dialogue" with the trade unions but would not be drawn into discussing pay.
He told broadcasters: “I think it's important that the RCN, like the Government, respects the independence of the pay review body that has looked at these issues in the round, made its recommendations, and we in Government have accepted that in full.
“But I'm keen to continue a dialogue with the trade unions because there's a range of issues that matter to staff, such as the estate where people are working, such as technology, such as safety.
“So there's a number of areas where we can work together. I'm keen to continue talking to the trade unions.”
He is expected to write to the RCN ahead of Tuesday’s strike, with the union warning that further strike dates will be announced for January unless there is progress in negotiations by Friday.
Mr Barclay also claimed that patient safety would be affected if striking NHS staff chose to only answer calls from the picket line.
He went on: “I think there's a difference in terms of the risk from the nursing strike, where there was around 7 per cent of nurses absent last week, compared to the risk from the ambulances next week.
"And it's important that the trade unions honour the commitments that they've given to safeguard both life-threatening responses and emergency responses.
"Now, we haven't actually had that confirmed in the practical arrangements that the trade unions put in place with each trust. I'm calling on them to do so.”
He added: “Obviously, if the trade unions insist, for example, on only answering calls from the picket line, then that in turn creates a delay, which can have an impact on patient safety."
Arrangements have been made for 1,200 troops from the Army, Navy and RAF to help mitigate disruption from widespread walkouts over the festive period, with more than 1,000 civil servants also drafted in to lend a hand.
But Unite’s national lead officer Onay Kasab said using the military to backfill vacant roles amounted to a “desperate measure”.
Oliver Dowden, the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster, on Sunday insisted that ministers would remain “resolute” in their stance on public sector pay.
“I would say to people across the private and the public sector… we’re trying to be reasonable, we’re trying to be proportionate and we’re trying to be fair,” he told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
“But in return, the unions need to be fair and reasonable. They should call off these strikes and give people a break.”
Caroline Nokes became the latest Tory MP to urge Mr Barclay to negotiate with nurses.
She told the BBC: “There is a real merit in having another look at negotiations and seeing where they get to.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, warned strikes will inflict “harms” on the health service.
He told BBC Breakfast it is “really important” the unions recognise that a commitment to “protect life and limb” stretches beyond cover for a “dire emergency” such as a traffic accident or heart attack.
