British nurses begin first ever strike as pay dispute deepens in ‘tragic day’ for NHS
- An estimated 100,000 nurses at 76 hospitals and health centres take part in the strike as 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries are cancelled
- Nurses want a 19 per cent pay rise, arguing they have suffered a decade of real-terms cuts, and that staff shortages mean unsafe care for patients
National Health Service nurses in Britain staged a strike on Thursday, their first ever national walkout, as a bitter dispute with the government over pay ramps up pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of year.
An estimated 100,000 nurses at 76 hospitals and health centres will take part in the strike, leading to the cancellation of about 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries in Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
Britain is facing a wave of industrial action this winter, with strikes crippling the rail network and postal service, and airports bracing for disruption over Christmas.
Inflation running at more than 10 per cent, trailed by pay offers of around 4 per cent, is stoking tensions between unions and employers.
Of all the strikes though, it will be the sight of nurses on picket lines that will be the stand-out image for many Britons this winter.
“What a tragic day. This is a tragic day for nursing, it is a tragic day for patients, patients in hospitals like this, and it is a tragic day for people of this society and for our NHS,” Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, said to the BBC on a picket line on Thursday.
The widely admired nursing profession will shut down parts of the NHS, which since its founding in 1948 has developed national treasure status for being free at the point of use, hitting healthcare provision when it is already stretched in winter and with backlogs at record levels due to Covid-19 delays.
Health minister Steve Barclay said it was deeply regrettable that the strike was going ahead.
“I’ve been working across government and with doctors outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels – but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients,” he said.
Barclay said patients should continue to seek urgent medical care and attend appointments unless they have been told not to.
The industrial action by nurses on December 15 and December 20 is unprecedented in the British nursing union’s 106-year history, but the RCN says it has no choice as workers struggle to make ends meet.
Nurses want a 19 per cent pay rise, arguing they have suffered a decade of real-terms cuts and that low pay means staff shortages and unsafe care for patients.
The government has refused to discuss pay, which Cullen said raised the prospect of more strikes.
“Every room I go into with the secretary of state, he tells me he can talk about anything but pay,” she said. “What it is going to do is continue with days like this.”
The RCN could announce extra strikes dates for 2023 next week if a pay deal is not agreed, the Times newspaper in London reported.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday that the government has “consistently spoken to all unions involved in pay disputes,” adding that it had responded to nurses’ requests for more training and money for nursing students, while also awarding them a pay rise last year when the pay of other public sector workers was frozen.
Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour party, said the walkouts were a “badge of shame” for the government.
The government in Scotland avoided a nursing strike by holding talks on pay, an outcome that the RCN had hoped for in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But the government has said it cannot afford to pay more than the 4-5 per cent offered to nurses, which was recommended by an independent body, and that further pay increases would mean taking money away from frontline services.
Some treatment areas will be exempt from strike action the RCN has said, including chemotherapy, dialysis and intensive care.
Polling ahead of the nursing strike showed that a majority of Britons support the action, but once the walkouts are underway politicians will be closely monitoring public opinion.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
