Nurses stood in the freezing cold on picket lines as “bullyboy” Health Secretary Steve Barclay was condemned for turning his back on them and their patients by refusing to act to resolve the dispute.
Tens of thousands of nursing staff walked out in the biggest strike in the Royal College of Nursing’s 106-year history as the government failed to budge on their paltry pay offer of 4% to 5%.
After standing side by side with nurses on the picket lines, RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “On a bitterly cold day, the public warmth towards nursing staff was immense.”
NHS bosses and even Tory MPs last night demanded Mr Barclay stop sitting on his hands and negotiate a deal before strikes planned for next week go ahead.
Nurses will take part in a further 12-hour walkout on Tuesday, before ambulance workers begin industrial action on Wednesday. Health service bosses have suggested all routine hospital care could be cancelled on the day of the ambulance strike due to the disruption.
The RCN is next week expected to announce further strike dates in the new year unless ministers agree to talks on pay. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, urged Mr Barclay to act.
He said: “The government cannot just sit back and let future strikes happen when patient care is on the line.
“The worry is that this is just the start, that strikes possibly being planned for January could be more severe… and we could be in a position of stalemate for the foreseeable future. This benefits no-one. The government must act.”
Ms Cullen accused ministers of choosing to “turn their backs on the nursing profession” and patients by failing to talk about pay.
Ms Cullen, who previously accused Mr Barclay of “bullyboy” tactics, said: “I woke up this morning very, very early and felt heartbroken as a nurse.
“It’s tragic for nursing, it’s tragic for patients and it’s tragic for the NHS, that the Government feels that they can sit in their offices today and keep our nurses out in the cold.”
But Ms Cullen last night said she believed yesterday would be “a turning point in the campaign for fair nursing pay”.
She said: “At the end of it, ministers find themselves under fresh pressure from unexpected places – their own MPs, NHS leaders and a former chair of the Pay Review Body.
“Each of these groups, for different reasons, wants the government to stop hiding behind its current fig leaf.” And Dame Ruth May, the chief nursing officer for England, appeared on a picket line where she backed striking nurses.
She insisted ministers must reach an “urgent resolution” with the RCN.
Mr Barclay also faced calls from his own side to offer better pay rises to end the dispute. Steve Brine, Tory chairman of the health select committee, said “the way out” of the strikes was for ministers to ask the pay review body to “look again”.
Dr Dan Poulter, an NHS doctor and Conservative MP, argued that ministers should “improve on the current offer on the table”.
And Jake Berry, a former Conservative Party chairman, warned: “I can tell you that the government offer is too low.”
Mr Barclay ruled out any movement on pay as he visited the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital – where nurses were not on strike.
He said: “We’ve been clear that we have an independent process and that is the process we followed.”
Ms Cullen said Mr Barclay had “missed an opportunity to get out of his warm office, put his coat on and get down to see nurses on our picket lines”.
The ambulance strike next week could force hospitals into a “blanket” cancellation of routine treatment as A&E departments are expected to come under extra pressure, it was suggested yesterday. Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England’s director of elective recovery, said: “If we were to give guidance today, the only guidance we could give would be to cancel absolutely everything.”
Top Gear host Paddy McGuinness was among those who showed solidarity with striking nurses, joining the picket line at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool.
The TV presenter carried a placard saying “honk if you support fair pay for nursing” as he stood alongside members of the RCN.
Last night it emerged healthcare staff at hospitals in Newcastle are being offered free porridge and evening meals after a nurse broke down in tears at the till in the canteen because she could not afford to pay for her breakfast.
Meanwhile, a Tory Health Minister has been accused of “fiddling the figures” over the cost of a pay rise for struggling NHS nurses.
Maria Caulfield, who is also a nurse, said a 1% pay rise would cost the government around £700million, but moments later on the BBC ’s Radio 4 Today programme suggested the figure stood at £800million.
The Government later confirmed the £700m figure, but admitted this applied to all non-medical NHS workers, not just nurses.
Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “Instead of fiddling the figures, the government should be preventing further strike action by negotiating with nurses.”
