Around 100,000 nursing staff are set to go on strike next month in a long-running dispute over pay.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will take part in industrial action on December 15 and 20 after voting in favour in a ballot. Nurses and other nursing staff will take action at half of the locations in England where the legal mandate was reached for strikes, every NHS employer except one in Wales and throughout Northern Ireland.
The number of NHS employers affected by action will increase in January unless negotiations are held, the RCN said. A separate pay offer has been made in Scotland.
Currently, no staff at hospitals in Greater Manchester are due to go on strike in December. This could be due to hospitals in the region not crossing the threshold for the strike.
It could be also be that the members in the Greater Manchester hospital trust have been not called to strike in the first wave. More eligible trusts are set to join the walk-outs in January if no deal is reached.
The only trust based in the region that will strike in December is the North West Health Education England. This is based in Piccadilly in Manchester city centre.
The union has repeated calls on the UK government to accept its request for negotiations to resolve the dispute over pay and patient safety. RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: "Ministers have declined my offer of formal pay negotiations and instead chosen strike action.
"It has left us with no choice but to announce where our members will be going on strike in December. Nursing is standing up for the profession and their patients.
"We’ve had enough of being taken for granted and being unable to provide the care patients deserve. Ministers still have the power and the means to stop this by opening negotiations that address our dispute.”
The RCN said that despite this year’s pay award of £1,400, experienced nurses are worse off by 20 per cent in real terms due to successive below-inflation awards since 2010. The RCN is calling for a pay rise of 5 per above RPI inflation, saying the economic argument for paying nursing staff fairly is clear when billions of pounds is being spent on agency staff to plug workforce gaps.
Other unions representing health workers including ambulance crews, midwives and hospital cleaners, are also balloting their members on strikes. Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "I am hugely grateful for the hard work and dedication of nurses and deeply regret some union members will be taking industrial action.
"These are challenging times for everyone and the economic circumstances mean the RCN’s demands, which on current figures are a 19.2 per cent pay rise, costing £10 billion a year, are not affordable. We have prioritised the NHS with an extra £6.6 billion, on top of previous record funding, and accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body to give nurses a fair pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.
"This means a newly qualified nurse will typically earn over £31,000 a year, with more senior nurses earning much more than that, they will also receive a pension contribution worth 20 per cent of their salary. Our priority is keeping patients safe.
"The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption and ensure emergency services continue to operate."
Royal College of Nursing members working on Agenda for Change contracts at the following employers will take strike action on December 15 and 20:
England:
– East Midlands Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
– East Midlands NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
– East Midlands Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
– East Midlands Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
– East Midlands Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
– Eastern Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
– Eastern Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
– Eastern Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
– Eastern Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
– Eastern NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
– Eastern Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
– London Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
– London Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
– London Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
– London NHS North Central London ICB
– London Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
– North West Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
– North West Health Education England
– North West Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Found Trust
– North West Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
– North West Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
– North West Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
– North West The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Found Trust
– North West The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
– Northern Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
– Northern Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
– Northern The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
– South East Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
– South East Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
– South East Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
– South West Devon Partnership NHS Trust
– South West Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
– South West Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
– South West Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
– South West NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB (BSW Together)
– South West NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
– South West NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)
– South West North Bristol NHS Trust
– South West Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
– South West Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
– South West Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
– South West University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
– South West University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
– West Midlands Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
– West Midlands Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
– West Midlands NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB)
– West Midlands The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
– West Midlands University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
– West Midlands Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
– Yorkshire & Humber Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
– Yorkshire & Humber Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
– Yorkshire & Humber NHS England
– Yorkshire & Humber The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Wales:
– Wales Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
– Wales Powys Teaching Local Health Board
– Wales Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Headquarters
– Wales Hywel Dda University Health Board
– Wales Swansea Bay University Health Board
– Wales Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
– Wales Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board
– Wales Velindre NHS Trust
– Wales Public Health Wales
– Wales Health Education and Improvement Wales Health Authority
– Wales NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
– Wales Digital Health and Care Wales
Northern Ireland:
– Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council
– Northern Ireland Southern Health and Social Care Trust
– Northern Ireland Western Health and Social Care Trust
– Northern Ireland Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
– Northern Ireland Business Services Organisation
– Northern Ireland Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority
– Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service
– Northern Ireland Public Health Agency
– Northern Ireland Northern Health and Social Care Trust
– Northern Ireland South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
– Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
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