Nurses on the picket line had one goal in mind today - save the NHS. And while the Greater Manchester public loudly voiced their support through their car horns, frustration was rising on the picket lines that the government's head is 'buried in the sand'.
Both nurses and ambulance staff staged walkouts today and the country braced for widespread disruption. Nurses at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust and Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, just as they had done on two days last month.
Picket lines may not have been quite as busy today as they had been a month ago, as nurses balance getting their point across with protecting their pay, but they were still in fine voice as anger grows at a government apparently unwilling to talk. Kat Sanderson, a nurse of 20-years leading the picket line at Tameside General hospital, said: "They've just completely buried their head in the sand.
"If Rishi (Sunak) doesn't start listening to us it'll be the end of the NHS. If he doesn't want that on his CV then he needs to end this.
"It's like a battlefield on the wards, you can't care properly for anyone at all anymore. Lives are now being lost because of years of underinvestment and lack of staff. The whole system needs fixing." "It's just constant putting out of fires, our backs are always against the wall, the lack of staff is a big issue," said Dawn Turner, holding onto a banner and placard with Kat.
Bobbie Wright added: "It's completely nosedived in recent years. You used to be able to properly care for people, make relationships. But people are coming in now who are really ill but you can't do much for them at all, you're just so busy all the time. It's a complete crisis.
"This is people's lives that are being risked. No one wants to be out here, but something's got to be done."
There was frustration among many that strikes had been called off in Scotland and Wales in recent times as their government's had entered talks over pay and conditions, but that the same had not come from the UK. Many pointed to the overwhelming support being heard by passing motorists which does not seem to be being heard by those with the power to stop the strikes.
"They (government) managed to find money for the furlough scheme and lots of other things but can't for nurses who have done so much in recent years? It's not right," said Jackie McCormick, who has been a nurse in Tameside for 28 years. "There's been such a decline in the standard of care we can give because we're not able to keep staff, many are going to the private sector or leaving for similar paid jobs outside of nursing completely. Having agency staff on much more money is all good and well but when they're not working you'll still have to rely on NHS workers, and there aren't enough. We're all so burned out."
Elaine McGuire and Rachel Jones have both been nurses at Royal Albert Edward Infirmary for nearly 20-years and believe there are a "lack of incentives" for young people to get into nursing now. This has been an increasing problem since the bursary was cut for trainees.
"I don't think I could have done this without the bursary," Elaine said. "Everyone is burned out, especially after Covid. Everyone was really supporting what we did then and what we had to go through but nurses have felt underappreciated since.
"Nobody wants to be here (on the picket), it's been a very hard decision to make to come out here. It's all about patient safety, we can't fill any jobs, it's not nice to see queues for ambulances, it's extremely hard work on the wards now. The whole system needs looking at."
Conversations on the picket line were regularly interrupted by the deafening noise of horns which seemed even more prevalent then the first round of strikes next month. Firefighters joined nurses at The Christie on their lunchbreak to show their solidarity and it definitely feels like the public are backing the nurses too. But it's the government who are the ones that need convincing.
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, spoke from a picket line outside St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London, today, accusing the government of choosing to “punish” nurses. She told the Press Association: “We are in a situation today where this Government has chosen to punish the nurses of England instead of getting round a table and talking to me about pay in the same way as they’ve done in Wales and Scotland.” Ms Cullen said that nurses strikes will continue until the government listens to their demands.
Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, however defended his position on pay rises. He said: "Just a few days ago, the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that wages are a factor in the bank’s approach in terms of inflation and interest rates. But it’s right that we have an independent process.
"We accepted in full the recommendations made last year, we’re now submitting evidence to the pay review body for April and onwards. We want to work constructively with the trade unions in terms of this evidence, and that’s why we’ve been discussing these issues with them."
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