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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kieren Williams

Everything we know about nurses' strike - which hospitals are on strike and which aren't

Nurses across the UK voted to go on strike this week in the sector's first industrial action of its kind.

Around half of all hospitals are expected to be affected by the strike that will see routine operations grind to a halt.

This is the first time in the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) 106-year history that they balloted their 300,000 NHS members over taking action.

Many of the countries’ biggest hospitals will be affected by the unprecedented mass walkouts, but not every trust decided to strike.

Staff were pushed over the edge by No10’s latest offer of a four per cent rise, as inflation stands at 17.6 per cent.

RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen said: “Anger has become action, our members are saying enough is enough.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming strikes, from which trusts are striking and which aren’t to what services will be affected.

Why are nurses striking?

St Thomas' Hospital is one of a number across the UK that will be affected by the strikes (In Pictures via Getty Images)

Nurses have suffered a 20 per cent pay fall in real terms since 2010 - when the Conservatives began their current reign of power.

Nursing vacancies and the NHS waiting list are at a record high and staff are stretched thin, being ‘burned out’ by the profession.

The union said that underpaid staff were leaving the professions in their droves as the number of students taking up nursing courses also was falling.

With low pay and growing hours and stress at work, nurses have been pushed past their breaking point, and turned to striking for the first time ever.

How will the NHS be affected?

The strike will mark the first of its kind in the RCN's long history (In Pictures via Getty Images)

Thousands of routine operations and appointments will be disrupted by the strikes, but emergency care will be maintained.

This will only contribute to the already record-long waiting list that the NHS currently has, with over seven million Brits in line.

Some of the most serious cancer cases could be treated and urgent diagnostic procedures and assessments will be staffed if they are needed to help deal with life-threatening conditions or those that lead to permanent disability.

Chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor said it would do all it could to ‘minimise harm to patients’.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: “We’re already coping with the gap that exists between the demand that is currently on the health service from the public. We’ve got to meet that demand, and we all know that we are heading into what already is a very difficult winter.

“Then we add industrial action into that and it’s going to be an extremely difficult job. The priority will be to try to minimise patient harm.”

Patricia Marquis, RCN director for England, told BBC Breakfast that current NHS services were “not safe” for patients.

She said there are some services that need to continue during strike action to keep patients safe “and we will agree with employers what those are and which staff should be working”.

How did things get to this?

Esther, a nurse from South Yorkshire, told The Mirror how she's forced to eat patients' leftovers (Paul David Drabble)

RCN has historically been resistant to NHS strike action and they opposed the last widespread strike action which took place in 1988, led by smaller unions.

In its 106-year history it has never balloted for a strike until it recently turned to its 300,000 NHS membership.

But after seeing such a huge cut in real term pay, the RCN has pushed for a pay rise of five per cent above inflation - meaning a 17.6 per cent pay rise.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the demands for a 17.6 per cent pay rise were ‘out of step’ with current economic conditions.

The government said the demands came with a £billion price tag and was ‘not deliverable’.

The minister said that: “These are challenging times, which is why we accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full and have given over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.

"This is on top of a three per cent pay increase last year when public sector pay was frozen and wider government support with the cost of living.”

Scotland offered a flat rate of just over £2,200, which means a newly-qualified nurse would get around eight per cent more.

Who is striking?

The strike balloted over 300,000 NHS nurses at the RCN (PA)

The strikes are organised on trust level, with each hospital needing to clear a 50 per cent turnout threshold for it to take place.

However, RCN are looking at ways to coordinate the strikes across the UK.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, every single service voted for action and in Wales all but one backed decided to strike.

However, in England, turnout was too low for strikes to take place in almost half of NHS trusts.

Only 102 out of 215 NHS trusts in the country voted to strike.

Some of the UK’s largest hospitals will be taking part including Guys and St Thomas in London, which sits opposite the House of Commons, the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, University Hospital Wales in Cardiff and Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

Full list of trusts that will strike

Only 102 out of 215 NHS trusts in England voted to strike (In Pictures via Getty Images)

East Midlands

  • East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB (Joined Up Care Derbyshire)
  • NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
  • Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust
  • Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Eastern

  • Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
  • Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
  • Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust
  • Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
  • Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
  • Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
  • West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
  • NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
  • NHS Mid and South Essex ICB
  • NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB
  • NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB

London

  • Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
  • Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
  • Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
  • St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
  • Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
  • University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • NHS North Central London ICB
  • NHS South West London ICB
  • NHS Resolution

North West

  • Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Found Trust
  • Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Found Trust
  • The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
  • Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
  • Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • Midlands and Lancashire CSU
  • Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Found Trust
  • Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
  • Central Cheshire Integrated Care Partnership
  • St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
  • The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
  • Health Education England
  • NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
  • NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
  • Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Northern

  • North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
  • Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
  • Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • North of England CSU (NECS)

South East

  • Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
  • South East Coast Ambulance Service
  • Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
  • Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • NHS Kent and Medway ICB
  • NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB
  • Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
  • University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
  • South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
  • Solent NHS Trust
  • Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
  • Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

South West

  • Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Devon Partnership NHS Trust
  • South Western Ambulance Service NHS Found Trust
  • Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust
  • Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • North Bristol NHS Trust
  • Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)
  • Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
  • Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
  • Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
  • NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB (BSW Together)
  • NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
  • NHS Dorset ICB (Our Dorset)
  • NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)

West Midlands

  • Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
  • Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
  • The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
  • Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust
  • Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust

And here are the trusts that aren't striking:

  • Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
  • Ashford and St Peter's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health NHS Trust
  • Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Barts Health NHS Trust
  • Bedford Hospital NHS Trust
  • Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
  • Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
  • Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
  • Bradford District NHS Foundation Trust
  • Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust
  • Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
  • Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
  • Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
  • Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust
  • Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
  • Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust

  • Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust

  • East Cheshire NHS Trust

  • East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

  • East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

  • East London NHS Foundation Trust

  • East Of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

  • Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

  • Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

  • George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust

  • Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust

  • Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust

  • Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust

  • Heart Of England NHS Foundation Trust

  • Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

  • Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust

  • Isle of Wight NHS Trust

  • James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust

  • Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

  • Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust

  • Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

  • London Ambulance Service NHS Trust

  • London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

  • Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust

  • Medway NHS Foundation Trust

  • Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

  • North East London NHS Foundation Trust

  • North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

  • North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust

  • North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust

  • North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust

  • North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust

  • North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

  • Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

  • Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust

  • Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust

  • Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust

  • Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • Project Nightingale NHS Trust

  • Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust

  • Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust

  • Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

  • Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust

  • Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust

  • Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust

  • Services Hub For East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust

  • Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust

  • Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

  • South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

  • South Tyneside And Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

  • South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust

  • South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust

  • South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust

  • South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

  • Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

  • Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

  • Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

  • Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

  • Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust

  • The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

  • The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

  • The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn. NHS Foundation Trust

  • The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

  • The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust

  • United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust

  • University Hospital of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

  • University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

  • University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust

  • University Hospitals of North Midlands

  • Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust

  • Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  • West London NHS Trust

  • West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust

  • Whittington Health NHS Trust

  • Wye Valley NHS Trust

  • Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

  • York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

  • Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

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