Summary
That’s all from our live coverage of the nurses strike for today. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of the day’s events.
Numerous Labour MPs joined nurses on picket lines in support of the strike. Party leader Sir Keir Starmer has faced criticism from some in recent months over his muted backing of industrial action.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen said the day marked a “turning point in the campaign for fair nursing pay” and that ministers were now under “fresh pressure” on the issue.
A poll for YouGov found that 64% of the public supported nurses in their decision to strike, while 28% were opposed. Another poll, by Ipsos, found that 80% of people were concerned about the ability of the NHS to provide safe care for people during the strike.
NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor called on the government to act to prevent future strikes. “The worry is that this is just the start; that strikes possibly being planned for January could be more severe and coordinated across the different unions,” he said.
Former chair of the NHS pay review body Jerry Cope suggested ministers should ask the group to bring forward its next set of pay recommendations to account for the cost of living crisis.
A spokesperson for the prime minister said there were “no plans to tell the independent body what to do” and insisted the pay review bodies were genuinely independent.
The health secretary, Steve Barclay, ruled out moving on pay for nurses but claimed there is “room” for discussion. On a visit to London’s Chelsea and Westminster hospital, Barclay said he had had a meeting with trade unions in which they found common ground, but suggested their requests were unreasonable.
Two Tory MPs publicly called on the government to consider a more generous pay settlement for nurses. Former party chair Jake Berry said the government should “improve its offer”, while Dr Dan Poulter, who has worked as an NHS hospital doctor, said “inflation has significantly eroded [nurses’] real-terms pay”.
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RMT Union chief Mick Lynch joined a picket line today in support of striking nurses.
Lynch has become a well-known figure in recent months, defending industrial action by his own members in frequent debates and interviews in the media.
The London branch of the Royal College of Nursing tweeted a photo of Lynch with a group of nurses outside St Mary’s hospital in west London.
Great to have Mick Lynch from @RMTunion come down to show his support at our picket at St. Mary’s Hospital. #FairPayForNursing #RCNStrike pic.twitter.com/dDnYWLnxWP
— RCN London (@RCNLondon) December 15, 2022
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One in eight adults in the UK have paid for private medical care in the last year because of long delays in getting NHS treatment, according to a new report by the Office for National Statistics.
A survey of 2,510 adults across the UK found that one in five were waiting for an appointment, test or treatment at an NHS hospital.
Of those in that situation:
Three-quarters said their delay had had either a strongly (34%) or slightly (42%) negative impact on their life
36% said waiting had made their condition worse
59% said it had damaged their wellbeing
A third said long waits had affected either their mobility (33%) or ability to exercise (34%)
Among the respondents, 5% said they had received private healthcare through private insurance, while 7% said they had paid for treatment themselves.
Read the full story here:
The first day of the nursing strike will mark a “turning point” in the push for better pay for nurses, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing has said.
In a statement, Pat Cullen said: “Today will be a turning point in the campaign for fair nursing pay. 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.”
Speaking on the Today programme this morning, Jerry Cope, who chaired the NHS pay review body from 2011-17, suggested ministers should ask the group to bring forward its next set of pay recommendations to account for the cost of living crisis.
Cullen continued: “Each of these groups, for different reasons, wants the Government to stop hiding behind its current fig leaf.
“On a bitterly cold day, the public warmth towards nursing staff was immense. For my members, this has been about professional pride, not personal hardship - speaking up for nursing, patients and the future of the NHS.”
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Labour MPs join nurses on picket lines
Numerous Labour MPs have joined nurses on picket lines in support of today’s strike.
The party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has faced criticism from some over his muted backing of industrial action in various sectors in recent months.
Starmer has expressed sympathy for nurses and blamed the government for failing to avert the strikes through negotiations, but has kept in place a ban on members of his frontbench appearing on picket lines.
The backbencher Ian Byrne tweeted a number of photos of himself alongside nurses with Richard Burgon, Apsana Begum and Beth Winter.
The former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, Zarah Sultana, and Bell Ribeiro-Addy also tweeted photos of themselves on picket lines.
My 100% solidarity with the nurses forced to fight for fair pay and the future of NHS.
— lan Byrne MP (@IanByrneMP) December 15, 2022
It was a pleasure to visit the @RCN picket line today with colleagues & fellow trade unionists.
They look after us now we have to look after them.✊#RCNStrike #FairPayforNursing pic.twitter.com/dsirj31lpB
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Here are some pictures of nurses on the picket line outside Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge.
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Almost two thirds of the public support the decision of nurses to go on strike over pay, a poll has found.
The survey, conducted today by YouGov, found that 64% of people supported the action, while 28% were opposed.
Among Labour voters, overall support was 84%, while among Conservatives the figure was 48%.
Tens of thousands of nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are on the first of two day-long strikes over pay
— YouGov (@YouGov) December 15, 2022
Based on what you have seen or heard, do you support or oppose nurses going on strike over pay?
Support: 64%
Oppose: 28%https://t.co/3O2DtOjpw9 pic.twitter.com/uvKDfZwyJV
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Summary
Thanks for following the live updates. I will be handing over to my colleague Christy Cooney, so below is a summary of the main news of the day as nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike on Thursday, sparking major disruption to services in the first such action in NHS history.
The chief executive of the NHS Confederation called on the government to act and prevent future strikes as further industrial action is anticipated in January. “The worry is that this is just the start; that strikes possibly being planned for January could be more severe and coordinated across the different unions,” Matthew Taylor said.
Nurses will start striking for longer, at more places and will disrupt more NHS services from next month unless the government increases its pay offer, hospital bosses have suggested. A second 12-hour stoppage is due next Tuesday at dozens of hospitals, mental health units and specialist care providers, such as children’s hospitals.
The health secretary, Steve Barclay, ruled out moving on pay for nurses but claimed there is “room” for discussion. On a visit to London’s Chelsea and Westminster hospital, Barclay said he had a meeting with trade unions in which they found common ground, but suggested their requests were unreasonable.
The GMB union became the first to reject a deal from the Scottish government that offered pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751, which ministers said meant NHS workers in Scotland would remain the best paid in the UK. 66% of respondents to the GMB ballot voted against the offer which would have given the lowest-paid staff a rise of 11.3%, with an average increase of 7.5%.
The NHS pay review body can’t change its recommendation as it would be “dangerous” for trade unions and the government, said the former chair of the body. Jerry Cope told BBC News the government could request the next report quicker, and for it to include any new evidence since the pay recommendations were made in February.
The Conservative chair of the health select committee said it would be a “sensible answer” for government ministers to ask the NHS pay review body to reconsider the pay rise recommendation for nurses. MP Steve Brine said: “The way out is to protect the integrity of the process, go back and ask them to look again.”
Four in five Britons are concerned about patient care and safety amid strikes, according to a new poll. The poll by Ipsos of 1,100 adults found that 80% were very or fairly concerned about the ability of the NHS to provide safe care for people during the nurses’ strike.
Nurses demanding a 19% pay rise is “not affordable” in the face of economic pressures, the health secretary, Steve Barclay said. “We also recognise the huge contribution that we saw from nurses during the pandemic and that’s why last year we made a special case where nurses got an extra 3% when others in the public sector did not,” he said in a TV interview.
At the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson played down the prospect of the NHS pay review body being asked to update its recommendations for nurses. The PM’s spokesperson said there were “no plans to tell the independent body what to do” and insisted the pay review bodies were genuinely independent.
Dr Dan Poulter, who represents Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in the House of Commons, urged the government to “improve on the current offer on the table for nurses”, saying there was a “good economic case” for doing so. Poulter has also worked as an NHS hospital doctor specialising in mental health services. The comments came after Jake Berry, a former Conservative party chairman, said the government should “improve its offer”.
Pat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing chief executive, said there is “nothing independent” about the pay review body process, and added that “hundreds of nurses” are leaving the profession every day. “This is a tragic day for nurses, a tragic day for patients … and it’s a tragic day for the people of society and for our NHS,” she told BBC Breakfast.
Health minister Maria Caulfield said that borrowing could not be used for spending on a larger pay award for nurses due to the failures of Liz Truss’s mini-budget. “We could’ve ignored the pay review body’s recommendation and gone for a much lower pay rise – we could go higher, but we have got to find that money from somewhere,” she told Sky News.
The former head of the NHS pay review body, Jerry Cope, said ministers should ask the body to reconsider the pay rise recommended and consider how inflation has soared. “That may be a possibility for a solution for this apparently intractable problem,” he told BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme.
Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said that the NHS trusts were “pulling out all the stops” to lessen the impact on patients. “On strike days, NHS trusts will do everything they can to ensure that essential services are properly staffed and patient safety, always the number one priority, is safeguarded,” she told PA news.
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Here is a Q&A about why nurses are striking, what the pay offer was, and other critical questions about why the strikes are happening.
Tell us: have you been affected by the strikes?
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: share your views on the RCN strike.
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The Covid pandemic has eased, so why is the health service facing its worst winter yet? And how is it coping with endless waiting lists, a staffing crisis and strikes?
From GP surgeries to pharmacies to hospitals, there is no part of the NHS that is not feeling under enormous strain this winter. Thirty-three months after Covid was declared a pandemic, Andrew Gregory, the Guardian’s health editor, and his colleagues spent hours on the frontline of the NHS to find out how doctors, nurses, paramedics – and the patients they treat – were coping.
He told Michael Safi how in one hospital he found demoralised, exhausted staff, ambulances waiting for hours and a seemingly endless battle to keep waiting lists down. Yet the pressure is also adding to problems outside hospitals, at local GP practices and even at high street pharmacies. So what’s behind the NHS’s worst ever winter – and what role is Covid playing in all this?
Listen to Today in Focus here:
The chief executive of the NHS Confederation has called on the government to act to prevent future strikes as further industrial action is anticipated in January.
“The worry is that this is just the start; that strikes possibly being planned for January could be more severe and coordinated across the different unions, and that we could be in a position of stalemate for the foreseeable future,” Matthew Taylor said.
“This benefits no one and the government must act,” Taylor said, according to PA Media.
Taylor said that while the first strike had gone as planned, with the NHS able to maintain safe staffing levels across key services, the government “cannot just sit back” and let future strikes happen when “patient care is on the line”.
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Guardian staff have been speaking with individuals affected by today’s planned industrial action.
Joe* was due to have medical tests in Bristol on Thursday, only to learn they were cancelled because of the strikes. While he is frustrated by the delay, he said he is more frustrated by the government’s choice not to negotiate with unions.
“I have a heart condition so I go for tests every couple of years or so,” said Joe. “I’ve been waiting most of the year for it and I had a phone call earlier this morning to tell me not to come because [the nurses] are not going to be there today.
“I’m more frustrated with the state of the government and them not even making an effort to try and avoid [the strikes] when they’ve been given plenty of chances to do so,” he said.
*names have been changed
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The wave of strikes sweeping the country reaches a peak this week, threatening to bring Britain to a standstill as workers across the NHS, transport network, Royal Mail and civil service take industrial action in ongoing disputes over pay and conditions.
Further unrest could beset the government in the new year as strike ballots for firefighters and teachers close in January, while junior doctors are scheduled to vote next month, and London Underground workers have approved a mandate for another six months of industrial action.
My colleague Neelam Tailor spoke with four people across England – a paramedic, a teacher, a firefighter, and a train driver – about why they are striking, the realities of being a public sector worker during a cost of living crisis, and whether they are hopeful that this action could lead to change in their industry.
Watch the video here:
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Is Boris Johnson, forced to get by on £750k of chicken feed, striking too?
Shortly after 9.30am, the green benches were almost half full. For a minute’s silence to remember the 80th anniversary of the first public declaration of the Holocaust by the then foreign secretary, Anthony Eden, in the Commons. It was a powerful and moving moment. The Commons is often at its best when it says nothing at all.
Then, just as quickly as they had appeared, nearly all the MPs vanished into the ether. They had either done their bit for the day and were taking the opportunity to nip off home early for Christmas or were staging their own strike. Hell, many workers elsewhere in the country were taking industrial action, so why shouldn’t MPs? After all it’s been a hell of a year, what with the three prime ministers. Each, in their own way, worse than the last. Who wouldn’t want to be better paid for dealing with all that crap?
Some might have even chosen to join the nurses – starting their first strike in more than 100 years – on the picket line. Take the Tory MP and chair of the northern research group, Jake Berry. He’s struggled to find any government policy with which he agrees.
Read more from John Crace here:
The public will keep supporting nurses even if their dispute drags on because ministers’ refusal to negotiate over pay is “dismissive” and disrespectful towards such vital NHS staff.
That is the view today of Prof Dame Anne Marie Rafferty, a former president of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), who is now a professor of nursing policy at King’s College London.
Talking to the Guardian, Rafferty said the depth of public appreciation of nurses means they will win the battle for hearts and minds even if they feel compelled to keep staging walkouts into 2023.
Rafferty said:
The government says ‘my door is open, come on in, but we’ll control the conversation and only talk about what we say is on the agenda’. At its core it feels like the government does not treat nurses with respect and I think this is where they are making a mistake.
Rafferty, who today visited the RCN picket line at Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in central London, added: “I think the government is hoping public support will waver but I’m not so sure it will.”
Critics are portraying the nurses as greedy, but nurses want to provide a quality service in conditions they feel safe to work in. They do not want to be taken for granted and patronised by a government that feels out of touch from the reality of ordinary working people and prefers to shirk its own responsibility for the chronic understaffing and underinvestment that has produced the current crisis.
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Nurses will step up strikes unless pay offer improved, NHS official warns
Nurses will start striking for longer, at more places and will disrupt more NHS services from next month unless the government increases its pay offer, hospital bosses have said.
Tens of thousands of outpatient appointments and non-urgent operations were cancelled on Thursday as nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike over pay.
A second 12-hour stoppage is due next Tuesday at dozens of hospitals, mental health units and specialist care providers such as children’s hospitals.
Read more here:
Health secretary, Steve Barclay, has ruled out moving on pay for nurses but claimed there is “room” for discussion.
On a visit to London’s Chelsea and Westminster hospital, Barclay said he’d had a series of meetings with trade unions in which they found common ground but suggested their requests were unreasonable.
“I think asking for 19% at a time when many face significant cost of living pressures is not affordable, given the situation the economy faces.”
Barclay said he had spoken to chief nurse Ruth May before she appeared on a picket line outside St Thomas’ hospital.
“I think as chief nurse that’s absolutely right that she is a hugely respected figurehead across the nursing profession and she wanted to signal today that she supports all nurses and I discussed that with her today.”
The PM’s spokesman said May was not representing the government on the picket line. In the same breath, the spokesman said the government rejected calls to ask the NHS pay review board to rethink its recommended pay rise for nurses.
England’s chief nurse Dame Ruth May has just turned up on the picket line here outside St Thomas’s hospital.
— Eleanor Hayward (@eleanorhayward) December 15, 2022
She says she supports striking nurses and ministers must reach an “urgent resolution” with the nursing union over pay. pic.twitter.com/1noN2IVH0y
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The NHS is facing an unprecedented crisis this winter. Thirty-three months since the pandemic was declared, the Guardian spent 33 hours in NHS services across south London and found crammed wards, burnt-out staff, patients waiting hours for ambulances and a constant juggling act to find space for patients in need.
Watch here:
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Members of the GMB union reject new pay deal from the Scottish Government for NHS staff
GMB union is the first to reject a deal from the Scottish government that offered pay rises ranging from 2,205 to 2,751, which ministers said meant NHS workers in Scotland would remain the best paid in the UK.
According to PA news, 66% of respondents to the GMB ballot voted against the offer which would have given the lowest-paid staff a rise of 11.3%, with an average increase of 7.5%.
GMB Scotland senior organiser Keir Greenaway said:
It is still below inflation for the vast majority of staff, who worked through the depths of the pandemic and are struggling in the grip of this cost-of-living crisis, and it doesn’t go far enough in itself to confront the understaffing crisis affecting frontline services either.
The offer came following negotiations between Scottish health secretary, Humza Yousaf, and the intervention of first minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Yousaf, who plans to meet with members before Christmas, called the decision “disappointing”.
Yousaf added:
We are making this offer at a time of extraordinary financial challenges to the Scottish government to get money into the pockets of hard working staff and to avoid industrial action, in what is already going to be an incredibly challenging winter … constructive engagement is crucial, and I would urge the UK government to get back to the negotiating table with the unions as we have done in Scotland.
Updated
The NHS review body can’t change its recommendation as it would be “dangerous” for trade unions and the government, said the former chair of the review body.
“I think the problem with the current situation is … that it took the decision last year based on evidence that it received probably around February time, and the world has moved on a little bit since then,” Jerry Cope told BBC News.
The NHS pay review body is responsible for making recommendations to the government regarding the pay of nurses and allied professions. The independent body takes evidence from the government, trade unions and other stakeholders before coming to a judgement on what the right recommendation is.
When asked by BBC News if the review body needs to change its recommendations, Cope said:
Well, I don’t think it can change because that’s actually dangerous for trade unions and for government, if review bodies recommendations are routinely revisited.
Cope added:
But I think what government could do, and what trade unions could accept if everyones looking for a reasonable way out, is for the government to say to the review body ‘let’s do your next report very quickly, as quickly as you possibly can, and in doing that report take account of any new evidence you might have received after you made your recommendations next year’. So a sort of inherent catchup if you like.
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Guardian reporters have been speaking with individuals affected by today’s planned industrial action.
Alice*, a 22-year-old in a hospital in north-east England, says her feeding tube will likely not be replaced today due to the nurse’s strike. However, she lays the blame on the government.
“I’m in hospital for my second week and I’m waiting to have my feeding tube replaced,” she said. “I rely heavily on the tube so I am being prioritised but due to the strikes, it is getting harder than normal to organise the slots and I may not get one today.”
The ward staff are definitely thinner on the ground today. I’ve been having chats with other patients who agree that the government needs to meet their demands. They have cared for us well, and we cannot give anything to repay them, but the government can.”
Alice added:
I’m concerned that the government will continue this dangerous response of no negotiations or meeting, despite the risk it poses and the just demands of the nurses. People will die, will it be me?
*names have been changed
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The Conservative chair of the health select committee said it would be a “sensible answer” for government ministers to ask the NHS pay review body to reconsider the pay rise recommendation for nurses.
“It seems to me there is no end game, exit strategy for the government and the RCN in this dispute,” MP Steve Brine told BBC’s World at One programme. “The way out, is to protect the integrity of the process, go back and ask them to look again.”
Ahead of the planned industrial action, the government argued that it was not possible for them to amend awards decided by the independent pay body for NHS staff.
Brine said:
The flipside of that is the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) should then step back from next week’s industrial action, because whatever happens…there will be a long tail to this whatever happens, and I think everyone needs to cool it and I think sending it back to the pay review body to have a look, would be a sensible answer.
Updated
Four in five Britons are concerned about patient care and safety amid strikes, according to a new poll.
The poll by Ipsos of 1,100 adults found that 80% were very or fairly concerned about the ability of the NHS to provide safe care for people during the nurses’ strike, PA news reports.
Nearly half of those surveyed said they supported the planned industrial action that started on Thursday and is taking place across the country. The poll found support was highest among those who voted Labour in the 2019 election, with 75% supporting strikes by nurses.
According to ministers, nearly 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries will be lost in England due to the nurses’ strike, while thousands more are likely to be affected in Northern Ireland and Wales.
Do you have an appointment or procedure affected by today’s strikes? Email me at geneva.abdul@theguardian.co.uk
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Health secretary says 19% pay rise for nurses 'not affordable' in face of economic pressures
Nurses demanding a 19% pay rise is “not affordable” in face of economic pressures, the health secretary, Steve Barclay, has said.
“We also recognise the huge contribution that we saw from nurses during the pandemic and that’s why last year we made a special case where nurses got an extra 3% when others in the public sector did not,” Barclay said in a TV interview.
When asked whether it was right that some nurses had to use food banks and claim universal credit, the health secretary referred to the independent process that looks at the cost of living pressures and balances them with the needs of the NHS.
The recommendations by the independent pay review were accepted in full, he said, adding:
But we’ve got to balance that against what is affordable to the wider economy, and asking for a 19% pay rise, way above what most viewers themselves are receiving, is not affordable given the many other economic pressures that we face.
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No 10 plays down prospect of NHS pay review body being asked to update recommendation for nurses
At the morning lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson played down the prospect of the NHS pay review body being asked to update its recommendations for nurses.
This morning Jerry Cope, a former NHS pay review body chair, suggested this as a possible solution to the dispute. (See 10.09am.) He said that the recommendations accepted by ministers are out of date, and that an update might justify a higher offer, while still respecting the pay review body process (which ministers don’t want to abandon).
But asked if ministers would ask the NHS pay review body to look again at what it recommended, in the light of the increase in the cost of living since February, the PM’s spokesperson said there were “no plans to tell the independent body what to do”.
He also insisted the pay review bodies were genuinely independent, saying that in 2021 the NHS body made recommendations that were higher than the affordabilty figure provided by government.
It is also understood that, without a specific request from government, the pay review bodies on their own cannot unilaterally update recommendations they have already made.
Follow the latest in politics with my colleague Andrew Sparrow here:
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The Royal College of Nursing is today drawing on the experience of colleagues in Northern Ireland who went on strike three years ago under the leadership of Pat Cullen, who now heads the UK-wide union.
The RCN Northern Ireland went on strike amid near freezing temperatures in December 2019 and January 2020 about pay and staffing levels. The region has some of the UK’s worst overcrowding, waiting lists and health outcomes, which may explain why the strike won public support.
As the director of RCNI, Cullen, a registered psychotherapist from County Tyrone, was the public face of the earlier strike. After becoming the RCN’s general secretary last year, Cullen used her experience in Northern Ireland when organising today’s action.
“To all our nursing staff – I have utmost respect for you,” she tweeted this morning. “Your courage to stand up and be heard for your patients will not be ignored. Shame on this Govt for leaving you out in the cold.”
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Second Tory MP publicly calls for government to increase pay offer to nurses in England
A second Tory MP has publicly called for the government to increase its pay offer to nurses in England, as pressure grows on Rishi Sunak.
Dr Dan Poulter, who represents Central Suffolk and North Ipswich in the House of Commons but has also worked as as NHS hospital doctor specialising in mental health services, said the RCN’s demand of a 19% pay boost was “unrealistic”.
He said: “In normal times, it is right for the government to follow the advice of the independent pay review bodies.
“But these are not normal times and inflation has significantly eroded real-terms pay since the review bodies made their recommendations earlier in the year.”
Poulter urged the government to “improve on the current offer on the table for nurses”, saying there was a “good economic case” for doing so
He explained: “Suppressing pay well below the rate of inflation will encourage more NHS staff to do less contracted hours and either work as expensive agency or locum staff or to leave the NHS to work elsewhere – perhaps for private healthcare providers, both of which cost the NHS money.”
Sunak was also urged by Poulter to “pay staff more to improve recruitment and retention”.
The comments come after Jake Berry, a former Conservative party chairman, said the government should “improve its offer”.
He also dismissed the call for a 19% uplift, well above the current rate of 10.7% inflation but said ministers should “compromise” and agree a deal with the unions to “meet somewhere in the middle”.
Updated
This from Andrew Sparrow, from the lobby’s morning briefing:
At the briefing, the PM’s spokesperson played down the prospect of the NHS pay review body being asked to update its recommendations for nurses.
This morning, Jerry Cope, a former NHS pay review body chair, suggested this as a possible solution to the dispute. (See 10.09am.) He said that the recommendations accepted by ministers are out of date, and that an update might justify a higher offer, while still respecting the pay review body process (which ministers don’t want to abandon).
But asked if ministers would ask the NHS pay review body to look again at what it recommended, in the light of the increase in the cost of living since February, the PM’s spokesperson said there were “no plans to tell the independent body what to do”.
He also insisted the pay review bodies were genuinely independent, saying that in 2021 the NHS body made recommendations that were higher than the affordability figure provided by government.
It is also understood that, without a specific request from government, the pay review bodies on their own cannot unilaterally update recommendations they have already made.
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'Covid took us to breaking point - the workload has doubled': nurses on picket line on pressures they face
Hugo Piresferreira, a nurse who was on the picket line outside Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge, said the workload has doubled since the pandemic.
The 31-year-old said: “I think it’s just an accumulation over the last few years and I think Covid just made us go into the breaking point.
“The workload has doubled, we’re seeing double the numbers that we were seeing before Covid in terms of our wards. Patients are coming through a lot sicker. What we’re not seeing is the staffing reflecting that.
“There’s also a lot of people leaving the profession because of money, because they don’t feel safe, they don’t feel happy with what they do. I think that’s reason enough for us to take some action.”
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“When my daughter was born more than eight weeks early, and lived in the hospital for her first six weeks of life in 2011, nurses helped to save her life. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, a breast cancer nurse was with me every step of the way through my recovery, and we still keep in touch. Today, I live with Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia and chronic asthma and rely on the NHS every day – that’s why I will be on the picket line supporting striking nurses.
I know the strikes might affect my care in the weeks to come, but this action is needed to keep patients like me safe. Nurses aren’t just going on strike for themselves, they’re striking to preserve the NHS for all of us.”
Melanie Duddridge has written an opinion article about why she is supporting the strikes.
The Royal College of Nursing general secretary, Pat Cullen, this morning attacked the independent pay review body recommendations to the government on nurses’ pay, saying: “The independent pay review body was set up at the time of Margaret Thatcher. It’s out of date, it does not work for our nurses, it may work for this government … ”
The NHS pay review body (NHSPRB) is an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department of Health and Social Care. It takes evidence from government and unions before recommending a pay increase, according to the government.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Jerry Cope, a former pay review body chair, defended pay review bodies as “fiercely independent” but told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme their decision could be “lagged”.
“It took place in February and the world was a rather different place in February and therefore I think some of the evidence they considered was probably out of date by the time it was published,” he said.
Ever since its creation by Thatcher in the 1980s, the pay review body for the NHS has divided opinions. Writing for the Guardian in 1998, Patrick Wintour tried to explain why it was set up.
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Two minor injury and illness units have been closed in Gloucestershire amid the nursing strikes.
Gloucestershire health and care NHS foundation trust said the units in Tewkesbury and Stroud have been shut while another in Lydney is operating with reduced service.
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Gloucestershire hospitals NHS foundation trust has said it would aim to keep minor injury and illness units open, but “the level of coverage is subject to safe staffing levels on each day” as a result of the nursing strikes.
Dr Andy Seymour, the chief medical officer at Gloucestershire NHS trust said: “One Gloucestershire health and care partners are working closely together to minimise disruption and ensure those in greatest need continue to have access to high quality care and support during the days of industrial action.
“The public can help too by thinking carefully about their healthcare options and getting advice when needed from NHS 111 and Asapglos NHS (website). Advice will also be available through local NHS social media channels.”
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Tell us: have you been affected by the strikes?
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: share your views on the RCN strike
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Here is the clip of Sir Jake Berry, who was chairman of the Conservative party when Liz Truss was prime minister, saying that the government should offer the nurses a better deal.
"I can tell you that the government offer is too low."
— First Edition (@FirstEdition) December 14, 2022
Former Conservative Party chairman Jake Berry says the government "is going to have to improve its offer" on nurses pay.
@tnewtondunn | @JakeBerry pic.twitter.com/Xx3U1TNB17
Caitlin Crann-McPartlan, 22, a third year student nurse, joined the picket line having finished a busy night shift in the cardiology department at the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
She said: “It’s very rare I’ve been on a shift where I feel we are fully staffed, that we are safe to work. Often as a nursing assistant I’m looking after 20 patients. It is stressful. You end up running around like a headless chicken.
“There’s just not enough of us and a lot of that is due to money and with people being unable to live on nurse and nursing assistant wages.
“But I’ve got no regrets about this choice of career. It’s cheesy but I love the patients, I love talking to them, waking them up, having a joke, singing to them, dancing with them. I love making people feel better even if I’m having a really bad shift. I still feel like I’m doing something good. I like making people smile.”
Caitlin Crann-McPartlan, 22, a third year student nurse, on the picket line outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) December 15, 2022
“It’s very rare I’ve been on a shift where I feel we are fully staffed.” pic.twitter.com/5b5a7Efqpe
Jane Matthews, 66, a paediatrics staff nurse on the picket line outside the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, said: “I’m disappointed, frustrated, I find it really sad that it’s come to this. We don’t want to be here. We shouldn’t need to do this.
“There just isn’t enough staff at the hospital. Today we are staffing our wards on a nighttime derogation and I’ve had nurses in some departments say that’s more than we normally have in the daytime.
“Because there are so few nurses, people are getting tired, stressed out, losing their enthusiasm for coming to work. One of the girls who was on the picket line earlier broke down in the strike hub because she was so tired and so demoralised. She is broken.
“As the winter pressures start, we’re already at capacity. If you don’t have enough nurses you don’t have the beds open which means that you can’t get people out of the emergency department quickly enough so you have the ambulances backing up. It’s going to get worse and worse this winter.”
Jane Matthews, 66, a staff nurse on the picket line outside the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children:
— steven morris (@stevenmorris20) December 15, 2022
“I’m disappointed, frustrated, I find it really sad that it’s come to this. We don’t want to be here. We shouldn’t need to do this.” pic.twitter.com/Iokm2FVk5H
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Here is a Q&A about why nurses are striking, why the pay offer was, and other critical questions about why the strikes are happening.
Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said that the NHS trusts were “pulling out all the stops” to lessen the impact on patients.
Speaking to PA, she said: “The cold snap has ramped up demand that was already at or close to record levels, but on strike day NHS trusts will do everything they can to ensure that essential services are properly staffed and patient safety, always the number one priority, is safeguarded.”
Pat Cullen, the RCN chief executive, has accused the health secretary, Steve Barclay, of “belligerence” after he refused to discuss the issue of pay.
He has said the government is sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review body, which said nurses should get a pay rise of around £1,400.
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On the picket line outside St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster, Linda Tovey, a critical care nurse, said: “It’s increasingly difficult to come to work and go home and think: ‘Actually I don’t think I can turn the heating on.’
“My wages aren’t bad for a nurse but I still have to think about what I’m doing with my money every month and that is not the position I imagined myself being in.
“People do a huge amount of extra work, in terms of studying and all that kind of stuff, and you don’t get the recognition in terms of wages.
“My own particular circumstances mean I do just about have some money left at the end of the month but I still go home and think twice about turning a light on.
“I don’t cook food in my oven very often since I realised to cook one meal costs the same as it used to cost me for my electricity the whole day.”
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The RCN chief, Pat Cullen, has joined union members on a picket line in London. And strikers were also pictured in Newcastle.
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Outside Aintree University hospital in Liverpool, nurses gathered to join the picket line from 7.30am.
Many held placards, with slogans including “Short staffing costs lives” and “You clapped for us, now act for us”.
One woman held signs saying “F*** the Tories” and “If nurses are out here, there’s something wrong in there”.
As cars passed they beeped their horns in support for the picket line outside the hospital’s emergency department.
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There are pictures from the strikes coming through on the picture wires now. Here is a first look at industrial action in London this morning.
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RCN chief: 'It's tragic that this government has decided not to speak to us'
Pat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing chief executive, has said there is “nothing independent” about the independent pay review body process, adding that “hundreds of nurses” are leaving the profession every day.
“This is a tragic day for nurses, a tragic day for patients… and it’s a tragic day for the people of society and for our NHS,” she told BBC Breakfast. “And it’s tragic that this government has decided not to speak to us, talk to us, get into a room on the first day of strikes, and that’s why we’re here today.”
Cullen added that nurses were asking for the “20% that has been eroded from our nurses’ pay over the last decade to be put back” and the health secretary, Steve Barclay, had told her she could talk about “anything but pay – that’s going to resolve nothing. What it is going to do is to continue with days like this.”
She said the independent pay review body was “set up by government, paid by government, appointed by government and the parameters of the review are set by government, so there’s nothing independent about it, and that’s why they came up with the 3% that they’ve come up with.
“There’s nothing independent about the independent pay review body – it might be accepted by government, it’s not accepted by the Royal College of Nursing.”
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Speaking on Sky News, health minister Maria Caulfield how said that borrowing could not be used for spending on a larger pay award for nurses due to the failures of Liz Truss’s mini budget.
She said: We could’ve ignored the pay review bodies recommendation and gone for a much lower pay rise - we could go higher, but we have got to find that money from somewhere. This isn’t government money, it’s taxpayers’ money.”
She added that around 70,000 appointments would be cancelled as a result of the strikes.
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An Ipsos poll found that over half (52%) of the British public support the strikes, with only 27% against.
Yesterday during prime minister’s questions, Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of “playing games with people’s health” by failing to negotiate a pay rise with the union.
He said: “Nurses going on strike is a badge of shame for this government. After 12 years of Tory failure, winter has arrived for our public services, and we’ve got a prime minister who has curled up in a ball and gone into hibernation.
“If he can’t act on behalf of patients or nurses, or everyone who wants these strikes called off, then the country’s entitled to ask what is the point of him?”
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Former pay review body chair suggests current pay recommendation out of date
Ministers should ask the NHS pay review body to reconsider the pay rise recommended and consider how inflation has soared, as a possible solution to strikes, a former head of the body has said.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jerry Cope defended pay review bodies as “fiercely independent” but told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme their decision could be “lagged”.
“It took place in February and the world was a rather different place in February and therefore I think some of the evidence they considered was probably out of date by the time it was published,” he said.
“That may be a possibility for a solution for this apparently intractable problem.
He added: “I think they (ministers) should ask the pay review body to reconsider what they did last year and not reopen last year because I think it’s too late to do that but actually say I want you to do a very quick turnaround for this year’s recommendations and I want you to take account on anything you might have missed last time round. I think it’s a way out because it respects the integrity of the pay review body.”
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Pat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing chef executive, has just spoken to members of the union who have already gathered in the picket line outside St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster, saying: “I want to thank you so much for what you are doing – you’re just amazing.”
Some of those who have joined the picket are wearing white RCN vests with the slogan “The Voice of Nursing”, while others clutch placards with messages such as “It’s time to pay nursing staff a fair wage”.
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Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to refuse work in unprecedented strike
Tens of thousands of nurses will strike across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Thursday, sparking major disruption to services in the first such action in NHS history.
Nurses will refuse to work at hospitals and other places of care across the three countries from 8am until 8pm, in the first of two days of scheduled walkouts over their pay claim.
Their action has led to large numbers of outpatient appointments and operations being cancelled. Urgent and life-saving services will be fully staffed, but many non-urgent services will operate with only the much smaller numbers of nurses usually on duty on Christmas Day or overnight.
Less unwell patients attending A&E have been told to expect to wait even longer than usual.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are staging the strikes in an effort to win a pay rise for this year of 5% above inflation, and in protest at the government’s decision to award them an increase of at least £1,400, which is the equivalent of about a 4% uplift.
The RCN’s general secretary, Pat Cullen, has stressed that nurses do not want to strike but feel obliged to do so because, with soaring inflation, the government’s pay offer amounts to a real-terms cut in their salaries after a decade in which the value of experienced nurses’ pay has already fallen by 20%.
“Nurses are not relishing this,” she said. “We are acting with a very heavy heart. It has been a difficult decision taken by hundreds of thousands who begin to remove their labour from tomorrow in a bid to be heard, recognised and valued.
“It is a tragic first for nursing, the RCN and the NHS. Nursing staff on picket lines is a sign of failure on the part of governments.”
You can read more of Denis Campbell’s report here:
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