A minister on Tuesday pleaded with the public not do anything “risky” during Wednesday’s ambulance strike as a London hospital trust was put on the “highest alert” level.
Hours before a walk-out by nurses began at 8am on Tuesday, health minister Will Quince issued the appeal amid worries that some heart attack and stroke victims might not get an ambulance response.
Mr Quince told the BBC: “There will be disruption to service. If people are planning a risky activity, don’t do so on the day.”
While life-threatening Category 1 conditions such as cardiac arrests and other most serious cases are expected to be covered, there is uncertainty over Category 2 calls, which include some heart attacks and strokes.
Separately Barts Health NHS Trust, London’s biggest health trust which includes The Royal London Hospital, issued a statement on Tuesday morning urging expectant mothers to “make plans in advance for getting themselves to hospital”.
The statement added that while maternity services will run as usual “our hospitals will effectively be running at the highest alert level for three days either side of the London Ambulance Service action, from Tuesday to Thursday. Our maternity services will run as usual, although we urge people expecting to give birth on Wednesday to make plans in advance for getting themselves to hospital.”
And Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement: “On the day of the strike, there is no guarantee that an ambulance or paramedic will be able to come to your home in the event of a home birth complication.
“In view of this, we strongly recommend that if you go into labour on the day of the strike that you give birth at the maternity service at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital or West Middlesex University Hospital.”
The warnings came as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing the biggest wave of strikes seen in Britain for decades as nurses, rail workers, postal workers and civil servants demand big pay rises to keep up with soaring inflation.
Mr Sunak was chairing a meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday morning and is coming under pressure to give ground on the NHS.
But despite polls showing public support for the nurses, who are demanding a 19 per cent pay rise, the PM is refusing to back down, insisting the Government stick to the findings of the independent pay review body which awarded 4.5 per cent.
Around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England are taking part in the nurses strike, alongside all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales.
In London, strike action was under way at Guys’ and St Thomas’ NHS Trust, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the North Central London Integrated Care Board.
The strikes last week saw around 1,400 procedures and operations cancelled in the capital. Imperial College Trust warned patients that their treatment may take six weeks to reschedule.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen said: “I want to say to the Prime Minister this morning, please step in now and do the decent thing on behalf of every patient and member of the public of this country.
“But please do the decent thing also for nursing staff, get round the table and start to talk to me on their behalf.
Speaking from a picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London, nurse Rosie Wood, 48, said the Government is “playing hard ball” and nurses should too.
She said: “Colleagues talk about how they come to work and end the day crying because they’ve just got so much to do and nobody feels safe, because you’re always worried that you’ve missed something.”
But Health Secretary Steve Barclay insisted: “The RCN’s demands are unaffordable during these challenging times and would take money away from frontline services while they are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic. I’m open to engaging with the unions on how to make the NHS a better place to work.”
And Mr Quince added on LBC: “We can’t be in a position where every year we are negotiating with the unions and being held to ransom in this way.”
With nurses walking out today and hopes of averting the ambulance workers strike tomorrow fading, Mr Barclay was meeting with ambulance unions to demand clarity on which incidents will be covered.
In London, Guys and St Thomas said routine procedures had been postponed due to the nursing strike. While maternity services will continue to run, ambulances may only respond where there is an immediate risk to life tomorrow.
Royal Free London said emergency departments and urgent treatment centres will be “incredibly busy” and said people should only attend if their condition is urgent or life-threatening. Maternity services will not be affected and Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust urged patients only to call 999 in a medical emergency.
Mr Barclay insisted: “The NHS remains open and Londoners should continue to come forward for emergency and urgent medical care. They should also continue to turn up to appointments unless they have been contacted by the NHS.”
