Liz Truss was brutally informed today that she had just 10 days to stop devastating NHS nurses’ strikes over low pay.
The Royal College of Nursing wants its 300,000+ members to support the drastic action when elected next week.
It’s the first time in the union’s 106-year history that it’s pushing for a nationwide walkout.
RCN officials have called for staff to receive a pay rise of at least 5 per cent above inflation, which currently stands at 12.3 per cent.
Under the figure proposed by the union, the average nurse, who earns around £35,600 each year, would receive an additional £6,150.
The government’s latest pay bonus, released earlier this summer, would have resulted in nurses being paid £1,400 more. However, some would have gotten a little more.
The union accepted that labor strikes should be a “last resort”.
However, it called the Government’s current salary offer a “national disgrace” that would put nurses more than £1,000 worse off due to the cost of living crisis.
The Royal College of Nursing wants its 300,000+ members to support the drastic action when elected next week. It’s the first time in the union’s 106-year history that it’s pushing for a nationwide walkout. Pictured: Nurse holding a placard outside the Royal College of Nursing last summer
The NHS staffing crisis is also fueling strike action, with eight in 10 nurses warning there are too few medics to treat patients safely and effectively. The RCN is asking for more staff to reduce waiting lists.
Pat Cullen, general secretary and chief executive of the RCN, said “firm policy action” to help nurses at home and at work was “never needed more urgently”.
She said: “In ten days we will be sending ballots to 300,000 care workers across the UK.
“After many years of underinvestment, they stand up for the patients and for themselves.
“Until the new Prime Minister comes up with a fair and reasonable proposal, I will continue to call on the nursing staff to strike.”
The move would follow a summer of disaffection that saw rail workers, lawyers and refuse collectors strike across the country over wage disputes amid rising energy bills and inflation.
The head of the British Medical Association has also warned that this winter’s strikes among doctors are a “clear possibility” as the “awful state” of the NHS requires medics to decide on a daily basis which patients live or die.
Junior doctors have given ministers an ultimatum for the end of September – warning they will vote on a strike if their 2 per cent salary offer is not increased.
If members back the vote, which is open until October 13, it would be the second RCN strike in the union’s 106-year history.
More than 15,000 nurses working in Northern Ireland went on strike in 2019 for better pay and working conditions.
It would also be the first ever strike by RCN members in England, Wales or Scotland, as well as the first nationwide strike.
Ms Truss, who was crowned Prime Minister today after beating rival Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership race, has already faced the ire of medics after claiming she was giving billions earmarked for the NHS into social care redirect.
In response to the election of Ms Truss as the next Prime Minister, Ms Cullen said: “After many weeks of high rhetoric and headline-grabbing claims, the new Prime Minister needs to demonstrate to the millions of people in the UK health and care workforce that this is not just the case, she is listening , but also delivers.
“Resolute political action to help them at home and at work has never been more urgent.
“As many of the grievances in our health and care services have been caused by political negligence, they can also be addressed with quick political attention. As a representative of half a million nurses, she will hear directly from me about our expectations and support for a world-class system.
“Her responsibility for a state-of-the-art NHS and care system will be a key way the public will now judge Liz Truss.
“She must first accept that a safe number of staff is needed immediately in order to have the best chance of reducing waiting lists, making appointments and literally saving lives.”
The RCN will send absentee ballots to 300,000 members next Thursday.
They would then have until October 13 to submit their response. The union has no confirmed dates on when the results are due.
If nurses voted for industrial action, members would not show up for work on the days of the strike. But members may prefer less drastic measures.
Like other workers, nurses cannot be fired if they take part in official and legitimate industrial disputes.
In contrast to other sectors, however, part of the nursing staff will continue to work. This will be carefully negotiated with NHS bosses before the strike takes place to ensure patient safety.
For example, an entire service – such as an intensive care unit or night shift – can be exempted from industrial action and continue to work.
The specific exemptions are being negotiated between each NHS trust and the local RCN strike committee, so it will only be clear shortly which services would be affected.
However, a minimum staffing level would be in place to ensure patients have access to emergency care and urgent diagnostic procedures and are not at risk of death or disability.
It comes after Philip Banfield, chairman of the British Medical Association, warned of a “winter of discontent” in the NHS with a “clear possibility” doctors will go on strike over pay.
He said doctors had to decide on a daily basis which patients live or die because of the NHS’s “awful state” and called for an anti-inflationary pay rise of up to 30 per cent next year.
The NHS is staring into the lap of its worst winter on record, with A&E and ambulance wait times already at record levels and growing backlogs for scans and routine care.
