The NHS was hit by its biggest day of strike action yet as tens of thousands of nurses and ambulance staff staged a walkout on Monday (February 6). It was the first time the groups have walked out on strike on the same day during the current wave of action.
Members of staff at East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) were among those to strike, with more than one union - GMB, Unite and Royal College of Nursing (RCN) - taking part this time around. Paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff staged more than 100 picket lines across the country, including eight in Nottinghamshire.
The strikes prompted a lot of support for nurses. But one reader said: "Market forces are dragging staff away from the NHS to better paid jobs."
Read more: Nottinghamshire nurses and paramedics walk out in biggest NHS strike yet
A nurse also commented and said: "As a nurse, I have the opportunity to help people in their most vulnerable, and unexpected, moments. It can be one of the worst days of their lives. As their nurse, my job is to make them feel safe, comfortable, and cared for.
"Where will people be without nurses. You never stop even when off duty."
Many pickets also saw ambulances workers line up next to their nursing colleagues. RCN members employed at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trustare also holding strike action on Tuesday (February 7).
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Mike Scott, spokesperson for the Nottingham/Nottinghamshire Keep Our NHS Public group, said: "The money for decent pay rises is there – to deny that is simply untrue. When billions needed to be found for PPE during the worst days of the pandemic, nobody argued that was unaffordable, even though much of it was stolen or wasted.
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"When the big banks needed bailing out from a crisis they themselves caused, billions were magically produced. The Government has full control of the money supply – the country isn't run like a household budget. To blame NHS workers for wanting enough money to support their families is dishonest and cruel."
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