Tens of thousands of nurses in cancer wards, A&E departments and intensive care units in England will stop work for 48 hours next month in a significant escalation of strike action.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the strike would affect more than 120 NHS trusts across the country – far more than previous stoppages – amid an increasingly bitter row with the government over pay and staffing levels.
The two-day continuous strike, the largest such action in NHS history, will spark enormous disruption to services.
“These strikes will not just run for longer and involve more people but will leave no area of the NHS unaffected,” the RCN general secretary, Pat Cullen, said in a statement. “I will do whatever I can to ensure patient safety is protected.”
Senior NHS sources said the dramatic escalation was “alarming”, and warned the impact on patients would be “significant”. The effect will be even worse if junior doctors also vote to strike next month, they added.
Previously, nurses’ action took place during day shifts, for 12 hours each time, when it occurred in December, January and February. However, the next strike will run for 48 hours from 6am on 1 March.
For the first time in its history the RCN will involve nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other services that were previously exempted.
In the strikes last week the RCN agreed to 5,000 exemptions locally through committees of NHS hospitals and RCN staff, but this process will be stopped for the March strikes.
It said it was continuing discussions with the NHS as part of its commitment to “life and limb” care. But the RCN will reduce services to an “absolute minimum” and ask hospitals to rely on members of other unions and other clinical professions instead.
The union announced it would increase financial support for its members who lose wages by taking industrial action. The initial strike benefit rate will be increased from £50 to £80 a day, with the rate increasing to £120 from the fourth day of action.
“It is with a heavy heart that I have today asked even more nursing staff to join this dispute,” said Cullen. “Patients and nurses alike did not want this to happen.
“By refusing to negotiate with nurses, the prime minister is pushing even more people into the strike. He must listen to NHS leaders and not let this go ahead.
“At first, we asked thousands to keep working during the strikes, but it is clear that is only prolonging the dispute. This action must not be in vain – the prime minister owes them an answer.”
NHS leaders expressed alarm. “This is the most worrying escalation of strikes yet,” said Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers. “With more than 140,000 appointments already postponed as a result of the walkouts, this is a step no one wants to take.
“A continuous 48-hour strike with no exceptions in A&E, intensive care units or cancer care services will be a huge blow – especially as even more trusts will be affected this time.
“With further strikes by ambulance workers planned in the coming days and weeks, and junior doctors’ walkouts also likely, trust leaders are now in a near-impossible position. They’re deeply concerned the escalation could hamper their efforts to tackle care backlogs and compromise continuity of care for some.
“Without a resolution, this ongoing dispute could lead to serious, long-term damage to the NHS … The government needs to talk to the unions urgently about pay for this financial year.”
Steve Barclay, the health and social care secretary, said: “Failure to provide cover during strike action for key services like cancer care is a significant escalation from the Royal College of Nursing that will risk patient safety.
“We are working closely with NHS England on contingency plans, but this action will inevitably cause further disruption for patients.
“I’ve had a series of discussions with unions, including the RCN, about what is fair and affordable for the coming year, as well as wider concerns around conditions and workload.”
