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Striking nurses will return to work for emergencies, says RCN head Barclay has ‘lost public’ and striking nurses ‘not going away’, says RCN
(about 7 hours later)
Pat Cullen denies claims by health secretary that he engaged with union over weekend as action in England continues into Monday Pat Cullen urges health secretary not to disrespect nurses and to do the ‘decent thing for the NHS’
NHS nurses staging the latest strike in England on Monday will return to work if emergencies arise, their union leader has confirmed. Steve Barclay has “lost the public” and striking nurses “are not going to go away”, the head of the Royal College of Nursing has warned.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “Our nurses will continue to work today to ensure our patients are kept safe, and those nurses that are on the picket lines losing a day’s pay, should there be other emergencies that arise during that period, I won’t even have to ask those nurses to return to work, they will return at their own volition.” Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the RCN, urged the health secretary “not to be disrespectful” to nurses amid their “biggest strike yet” over the bank holiday.
She said the RCN, whose members are taking industrial action in England, has granted “the majority if not all of the exemptions requested” for some nurses in critical care to work during the industrial action. Cullen also confirmed nurses will be re-balloted this month for further industrial action later in the year, meaning the pay dispute could continue until Christmas.
Cullen also disputed the claim by Steve Barclay, the health secretary, that he had been engaging with the RCN over the weekend. “It will end when our government will do the decent thing for nurses, does the decent thing for the people of England and actually does the decent thing for the NHS,” said Cullen. “What our members are saying to the secretary of state of this government is we are not going to go away.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Cullen said: “I have had absolutely no talks with Steve Barclay over the weekend, that’s factually incorrect.” She also said she had not spoken with any of his officials either. Her comments came after Barclay described the industrial action by nurses as “premature” and “disrespectful” to the other trade unions who are set to meet to discuss the government’s pay offer on Tuesday.
The strike, which began at 8pm on Sunday and is set to end just before midnight on Monday, is likely to cause major disruption to NHS services. Through the NHS Staff Council, the unions will consider the offer of a 5% pay increase for 2023/24 along with a one-off payment worth between £1,655 and £3,789 for the current financial year for nurses in England.
NHS England warned the strikes “will have a significant impact upon planned and routine care”. Thousands of nurses walked out at 8pm on Sunday in what was described by the RCN as the “biggest strike yet” because it included nursing staff from emergency departments, intensive care and cancer care for the first time.
A high court judge had ruled it would be unlawful for the industrial action to continue into Tuesday as originally planned. The 28-hour action, which will end just before midnight on Monday, comes after a high court judge ruled it would be unlawful for it to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.
The strike by the RNC will coincide with industrial action from NHS Unite members. Speaking outside University College hospital in London on Monday, Cullen said Barclay should “spend less time writing papers for the royal court of justice to take our nursing staff to court and get round a table and start to do the decent thing for them”.
NHS workers will also be marchng in central London on Monday. Unite said the march would coincide with a strike by its members in Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust and the Yorkshire ambulance service. She added: “Steve Barclay may have won the legal argument that day last Thursday but what he did was he lost the public and certainly lost any respect that our nursing staff had for him and this government.”
Nurses at Great Ormond Street hospital (GOSH) will continue to work after the hospital voiced “serious concerns” about patient safety during the walkout. One NHS trust on Monday reported that its intensive care unit had had its capacity “significantly” reduced as it was not able to secure enough nurse staffing levels during the strike action.
Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS foundation trust, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “We got an exemption from the RCN [Royal College of Nursing] so we were allowed to ask … the nurses to come in to cover that area – not to the staffing levels we would normally have, but to safe staffing levels.
“Unfortunately, nurses decided, as is entirely within their right – they are not obliged to turn up even if we ask the RCN – and unfortunately we weren’t able to get sufficient nurses to cover the intensive care areas, so we had to reduce the capacity significantly and transfer patients out.”
Last month, RCN members rejected the government’s offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year. The union’s leadership had recommended its members accept the offer.Last month, RCN members rejected the government’s offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year. The union’s leadership had recommended its members accept the offer.
Speaking about the offer and the decision by RCN members to reject it, Cullen told Good Morning Britain: “There were some elements of the pay offer that were attractive to our ruling council, for example around safe nurse staffing policy work that’s required in order for us to be able to move to a place where we have safe nurse staffing legislation in place. Earlier on Monday, speaking about the offer and the decision by RCN members to reject it, Cullen told Good Morning Britain: “There were some elements of the pay offer that were attractive to our ruling council, for example around safe nurse staffing policy work that’s required in order for us to be able to move to a place where we have safe nurse staffing legislation in place.
“Another element that was attractive to put to our members was around a separate pay structure for nursing that recognises that they are a critical profession, and their expertise.“Another element that was attractive to put to our members was around a separate pay structure for nursing that recognises that they are a critical profession, and their expertise.
“Those elements were put to our members. Our council made the decision that it wasn’t for them to hold that money back from our nursing staff who are really struggling.” “Those elements were put to our members. Our council made the decision that it wasn’t for them to hold that money back from our nursing staff who are really struggling.
“There’s no credibility issues here, our nursing staff have spoken up loud and clear,” she added. “There’s no credibility issues here, our nursing staff have spoken up loud and clear.”
Unite rejected the government’s pay offer, call it a “substantial real-terms pay cut” for NHS workers.