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Daily Mirror

National

Kieren Williams

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

NHS Nurse RCN Royal College of Nursing United Kingdom BBC Breakfast University Hospitals

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.