Bosses at Nottingham's hospitals have said that patient safety is "absolutely paramount" as nurses prepare to go on strike. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) at Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital will take industrial action tomorrow (Thursday, December 15).
It comes as part of the union's first ever national nursing strike and will also take place on December 20. The RCN said it was taking action after the Government turned down its offer of formal, detailed negotiations as an alternative to industrial action.
Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) said some appointments and elective surgeries had been postponed as a result. Lisa Kelly, chief operating officer, said: “Patient safety is absolutely paramount and it remains imperative that any members of the public that need care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-saving cases.
Read more: Nurses' pay explained as strike set to go ahead after talks fail
“Our hospitals remain open and we are working hard to keep patients safe during strikes, while delivering the best care possible. However, to maintain patient safety, we have unfortunately had to reschedule some outpatients appointments and elective surgery. Those patients whose appointments are impacted have already been contacted and are being supported with rearranging their appointments. If you have not been contacted please attend your appointment as planned.”
NHS England will provide numbers of striking staff and rescheduled appointments on the day of the strike.
NUH urged patients who need urgent medical care to continue coming in as normal. In England, almost half of NHS trusts failed to meet the legally-required minimum turnout threshold (50%, with at least 40% of all those entitled to vote voting in favour) to take strike action. Staff at four Nottinghamshire NHS organisations voted to strike last month.
These are Nottingham University Hospitals, NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, and the East Midlands Ambulance Service. The RCN points out that its members have seen their pay fall by 20% in real terms since 2010; the union says this has contributed to the loss of 25,000 nurses from the profession over the last year alone.
The RCN is calling on the government to give nurses a pay increase of 19.2%. This is 5% above the rate of retail price inflation, which stood at 14.2% in the 12 months to November. The government says that the money needed to fund a 19.2% pay rise for nurses would have to come out of the budget for frontline NHS care. It says that this would make it harder for the beleaguered health service to clear its Covid-related backlog.
Mike Scott, spokesman for Nottingham's Keep Our NHS Public, said: "This is the first time RCN members have ever been balloted, let alone taken action and shows the appalling state successive Tory governments have let our NHS get into. Not long ago they were outside clapping nurses, now they say fair pay is unaffordable.
"Keep Our NHS Public is well aware that strikes will result in some disruption to patients but we are clear that this is the fault of the Government, not the strikers. There is no fat to trim from the NHS: the current action is the result of years of deliberate underfunding. In 2008, the banks were called “too big to fail” but apparently, the NHS can be allowed to go under.
"We call on everyone to support these strikes - and those of other public sector workers, privatised or not. And we call on MP’s of all parties to do the same, whatever their party line. NHS staff have always been there for us – now we have to be there for them."
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