Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will go on strike from 08:00 on Thursday in the largest strike of its kind in the history of the British health service.
Nursing will continue to provide some of its urgent services, but routine surgery and other planned treatments are likely to be disrupted.
The Royal College of Nursing has said nurses have no choice after ministers refused to resume salary talks.
The British government said the Royal College of Nursing’s request to raise wages by 19% could not bear the financial consequences.
The strike will affect around a quarter of all hospitals in England, all health boards in Northern Ireland and all but one in Wales. Nursing staff in Scotland are not taking part in the strike.
Under union law, the Royal College of Nursing must ensure that vital care continues during the 12-hour strike.
Chemotherapy and dialysis sessions should continue as normal, as should intensive and critical care units, pediatric emergency room and neonatal units in hospitals.
The greatest effect is likely to be obtained in pre-booked treatment such as umbilical hernia surgery, joint replacement or outpatient surgery.
The NHS said it was “essential” that people continue to require emergency care during strikes and that anyone not called to reschedule an appointment should go as planned.
“We are running out of patience, we are underpaid and underrecognised,” says Nurse Anesthetist Lindsey Thompson, from Northern Ireland.
“Yes, this is a salary dispute, but it’s also about patient safety,” he added.
“We can’t recruit enough nurses, and that means patient safety is at risk,” she said.
Thompson, who has worked as a nurse for 12 years, says her colleagues “never want to go on strike” but feel the need to act “to protect the NHS” after a period of sub-inflationary wage increases.
“We feel like we have no other choice, because the government doesn’t listen to us,” she says.
The Royal College of Nursing has individually endorsed the grades of over 300,000 nurses and nurses through Medical Services Funds and Boards instead of a single nationwide ballot.
This meant that some nurses did not have the right to participate in the strike, because voter turnout in their area was very low.
In England, the first round of strikes will continue in 51 of 219 hospitals, mental health institutions and community services.
Strikes also continue in all but one health board in Northern Ireland and in all but one health board in Wales.
Most general practice clinics will not be affected, as nurses who work directly there are not eligible to participate in the vote, but the strike will include district nurses who deliver their services to people’s homes or other places to the treatment.
The second day of the strike will begin on December 20, unless there is a breakthrough in the talks.
How will patients be affected?
- People with serious illnesses or injuries whose lives are in danger should call 999 as usual or call 111 for non-emergency care.
- Other services, such as some cancer treatments, mental health services, or urgent testing, may be partially staffed
- Routine care including planned operations such as knee and hip replacements, community nursing services and health care visits are likely to be affected
- Those who have an appointment who have not already been told to change their appointment must go at the appointed time
- General practitioners, pharmacies and dentists will not be affected
And in England and Wales, most NHS staff have already received a pay rise of around £1,400 this year, around four per cent on average for nurses.
The political situation in Northern Ireland has delayed payment of the raise, but nursing staff will receive their arrears by the end of the year.
The Royal College of Nursing wants a five per cent increase on the inflation rate, saying its members have received years of below-inflation pay rises.
England’s health secretary, Steve Barclay, said further pay increases meant money was being siphoned off from other front-line services.
“I have worked across government and with paramedics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels, but I remain concerned about the risks strikes pose to patients,” she said.
Barclay added that the Government had followed the recommendation of the Independent Pay Review Body, which said in July that NHS workers should receive a £1,400 raise, with a slight increase for more experienced nurses.
Welsh ministers said they were unable to enter wage talks without further funding from the UK government.
And in Scotland, a strike by nursing staff has been called off after ministers made a new offer of just over £2,200 a year for most NHS staff. Nurses have been asked to vote on the deal and the results are expected next week.
David is one of the patients to have a pacemaker implanted at a Welsh hospital on Thursday.
Since having heart surgery five years ago, her NHS treatment has been ‘flawless’, she says.
But being called and informed that Thursday’s procedure had been postponed left him “frustrated and disappointed”. A new date has not yet been set.
David says, “If you… [تعمل] In a profession where lives are at stake, I feel it is wrong to go on strike.”
“Especially at Christmas and when others go on strike too, it’s not a good time,” he added.
Union leaders have offered to call off the strikes if the British government agrees to reopen serious wage discussions.
But a face-to-face meeting scheduled for this week fell through, with the Royal College of Nursing accusing Barclay of “hostility” and having “little much to say”.
It would be only the second time that members of the Royal College of Nursing have struck in its 106-year history. Until 1995, the union had an official no-strike policy in its bylaws.
In 2019, nurses in Northern Ireland went on strike. In 2014, members of the Unicin union in England also went on strike to protest wages.
This winter, several other health workers’ unions voted to go on strike across Britain, with a series of strikes planned for Christmas and New Year’s.
