NHS chiefs have urged Health Secretary Steve Barclay to discuss current pay deals with unions amid fears of an escalation in the nurses’ strike. The dispute involving nurses in England could be extended to involve staff from emergency departments, intensive care and cancer wards in the next round of industrial action.
NHS Providers, which represents trusts, said the planned escalation by the Royal College of Nursing was “alarming” and the only way to avoid more disruption was by having fresh pay talks. The RCN is understood to be considering action across three separate days and throughout the night.
The union is preparing to step up the dispute by ending a process where the RCN had agreed around 5,000 local exemptions from strike action through joint committees involving union and NHS officials. The RCN will make a limited set of provisions for the most urgent clinical situations as part of a legal obligation not to endanger life.
