Nottinghamshire hospitals are facing a potential walkout of key workers as members of the UK's biggest nursing union consider strike action. The Royal College of Nursing, which has 300,000 members across the country, began balloting its members today (Thursday, October 6) over pay and staff shortages.
The ballot, which runs until November 2, is the first to be conducted by the RCN in its 106-year history. Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital in Nottingham, as well as King's Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, would all be affected by strike action.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, which provides integrated healthcare services, including mental health, across the county, would also face a walkout. The RCN has urged its members to vote for strike action "in protest at years of government-imposed pay freezes and below-inflation pay awards".
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It also said a fair pay deal would help to solve the growing nurse staffing crisis in the NHS by encouraging more staff to join and remain in the service. Ian Graham, chair of the RCN in the East Midlands, said: “When NHS nursing staff are having to forgo meals or stop paying into their pension so they can afford to clothe their children or travel to work, the time has come to say enough is enough.
“Ministers have refused to give NHS workers the pay rise they need and deserve despite employers sounding the alarm that more and more of their staff are leaving for better-paid jobs in shops, pubs and restaurants." Mr Graham continued: “Patients and their families deserve better. They shouldn’t have to fear that when they need them, nursing staff won’t be there in sufficient numbers to keep them safe and well looked-after.
“Calling on our members to vote in favour of strike action is not a decision we have taken lightly, but we hope the public understand that it’s patient care that is compromised when the Government chooses to wilfully undervalue nurses and nursing.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We value the hard work of NHS nurses and are working hard to support them – including by giving over 1 million NHS workers, including nurses, a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year, as recommended by the independent NHS Pay Review Body.
“NHS staff also received a 3% pay rise last year, increasing nurses’ pay by £1,000 on average despite a public sector pay freeze. Industrial action is a matter for unions, and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts on patients.”
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