Some 100,000 nursing staff across the UK will take part in their first ever national strike next month - with NHS staff from Newcastle, Northumbria and Gateshead trusts taking part.
The acts of industrial action - which are set to take place on December 15 and 20 - come after a long-running and unresolved dispute over pay and working conditions.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) this month were balloted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - leading to a majority decision for walkouts in less than a month's time.
Read more: NHS nurses announce strikes just days before Christmas in dispute over pay
The PA News Agency reports that a separate pay offer has been made in Scotland, thus their members will not be taking part in the days of action. The RCN have also announced that the number of NHS employers affected by the strikes will increase in January - should negotiations not be held beforehand.
It comes after the nursing union has called upon the Government to accept their request for negotiations, in a bid to resolve disputes over pay and patient safety.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “Ministers have declined my offer of formal pay negotiations and instead chosen strike action. It has left us with no choice but to announce where our members will be going on strike in December.
“Nursing is standing up for the profession and their patients. We’ve had enough of being taken for granted and being unable to provide the care patients deserve. Ministers still have the power and the means to stop this by opening negotiations that address our dispute.”
Despite being awarded a pay rise of £1,400 this year, the RCN says that experienced nurses are worse off by 20% in real terms. This is due to successive sub-inflation levels of pay compensation since 2010. The union is calling for a pay rise of five per cent above RPI, arguing that the economic statement for paying nursing staff fairly is clear when billions are being spent on workforce gap plugging agency staff.
The RCN also pointed out that some 25,000 nursing staff left the Nursing and Midwifery Council Register in the last year alone - which explains why there are currently around 47,000 unfilled nurse posts in the NHS in England alone. Elsewhere, other unions are considering balloting their members on strikes - such as ambulance crew, midwifery and hospital cleaner unions.
Interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said: “Nobody wants to see strikes when the NHS is about to experience what may be its hardest ever winter but we understand how strongly nurses feel and why it has come to this. We urge the Government to act fast and talk to nurses and union leaders to find a way to avert strikes.
“Trusts up and down the country have been planning for industrial action. Not all of them will be affected directly but those that are will do everything in their power to minimise disruption for patients.
“Trust leaders’ priorities are ensuring the safe delivery of care and supporting the wellbeing of staff who continue to work flat out in the face of below-inflation pay awards, severe staff shortages and ever-increasing workloads.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said: “I am hugely grateful for the hard work and dedication of nurses and deeply regret some union members will be taking industrial action. These are challenging times for everyone and the economic circumstances mean the RCN’s demands, which on current figures are a 19.2% pay rise, costing £10bn a year, are not affordable.
“We have prioritised the NHS with an extra £6.6bn, on top of previous record funding, and accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body to give nurses a fair pay rise of at least £1,400 this year. This means a newly qualified nurse will typically earn over £31,000 a year, with more senior nurses earning much more than that, they will also receive a pension contribution worth 20% of their salary.
“Our priority is keeping patients safe. The NHS has tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption and ensure emergency services continue to operate.”
Here is a full list of all RCN member locations which are set to conduct walkouts on December 15 and 20.
England:
- – East Midlands Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- – East Midlands NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
- – East Midlands Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- – East Midlands Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- – East Midlands Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- – Eastern Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- – Eastern Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
- – Eastern Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
- – Eastern Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
- – Eastern NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
- – Eastern Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- – London Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
- – London Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
- – London Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- – London NHS North Central London ICB
- – London Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
- – North West Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- – North West Health Education England
- – North West Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Found Trust
- – North West Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- – North West Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
- – North West Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
- – North West The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Found Trust
- – North West The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
- – Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
- – Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- – The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- – South East Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- – South East Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- – South East Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West Devon Partnership NHS Trust
- – South West Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB (BSW Together)
- – South West NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
- – South West NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)
- – South West North Bristol NHS Trust
- – South West Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
- – South West University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
- – West Midlands Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
- – West Midlands Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
- – West Midlands NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB)
- – West Midlands The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- – West Midlands University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
- – West Midlands Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
- – Yorkshire & Humber Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- – Yorkshire & Humber Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
- – Yorkshire & Humber NHS England
- – Yorkshire & Humber The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Wales:
- – Wales Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
- – Wales Powys Teaching Local Health Board
- – Wales Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Headquarters
- – Wales Hywel Dda University Health Board
- – Wales Swansea Bay University Health Board
- – Wales Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
- – Wales Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board
- – Wales Velindre NHS Trust
- – Wales Public Health Wales
- – Wales Health Education and Improvement Wales Health Authority
- – Wales NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
- – Wales Digital Health and Care Wales
Northern Ireland:
- – Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council
- – Northern Ireland Southern Health and Social Care Trust
- – Northern Ireland Western Health and Social Care Trust
- – Northern Ireland Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
- – Northern Ireland Business Services Organisation
- – Northern Ireland Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority
- – Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service
- – Northern Ireland Public Health Agency
- – Northern Ireland Northern Health and Social Care Trust
- – Northern Ireland South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
- – Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
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