Nurses’ pay rise demands have been dismissed as “remarkably high” by a cabinet minister who warned that looming strike action will “completely disrupt” vital NHS services.
Chris Heaton-Harris said it was “very difficult” to say whether nurses get paid enough, and refused to say whether they deserved to be paid as much as MPs.
The Northern Ireland secretary told Sky News: “I think that’s an unfair question … we’re in completely different places”, adding: “Some people wouldn’t want to pay politicians anything.”
Mr Heaton-Harris said the 17.6 per cent increase being asked for by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a “high ask” – pointing out the nurses got a pay rise during Covid.
It follows health secretary Steve Barclay insistence that the nurses’ pay request was “out of step” with the inflation crisis faced by the UK, despite the cost of living struggles faced by staff.
In a series of tweets, Mr Barclay said the demands were not “reasonable or affordable”, as he warned that the planned strike action would mean delays to care.
It comes as a senior NHS leader said hospitals will do all they can to “minimise harm to patients” if nurses strike this winter – but admitted operations and appointments will have to be cancelled or postponed.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said there are national and regional plans to minimise the impact on patients despite a “very difficult winter” ahead.
“Clearly industrial action is a challenge for the health service and NHS leaders,” he told BBC Breakfast.
“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,” said Mr Taylor.
Mr Barclay will on Thursday hold talks with Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the Royal RCN, as he works to avert the industrial action.
Mr Barclay was willing to discuss how working conditions can be improved but was “not negotiating” on pay, it is understood, as nurses demand a raise of at least 15 per cent.
Patricia Marquis, RCN director for England, told BBC Breakfast that current NHS services were “not safe” and the government has “failed to listen” to what nursing staff have been saying.
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”.
Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting accused the government of “unacceptable negligence” after nurses voted to strike.
He said: “There were no strikes in the NHS during 13 years when Labour was last in government. If we were in office today, we would be talking with the RCN and doing everything we can to prevent these strikes going ahead.”
Other health worker unions including Unison and the GMB will announce the result of strike ballots before the end of the month among staff including ambulance drivers and paramedics, hospital porters and cleaners.
Physiotherapists started voting on Monday over industrial action, while a ballot of midwives opens on Friday.
