More than 1,200 patient appointments and procedures at Nottingham hospitals were postponed as a result of the second nurses strike, NHS figures show. Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH), which runs Queen's Medical Centre and City Hospital, rescheduled 149 elective procedures and 1,115 outpatient appointments due to take place on Tuesday, December 20.
Across the trust, 558 members of staff walked out on the day as part of a second day of action by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The union is demanding a 19 percent increase in pay for nurses.
Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live on the picket line, nurses said staffing levels were "beyond a joke". NUH said it was prioritising emergency care for patients during the strike action.
In the first strike last Thursday (December 15), 530 nurses and healthcare assistants were absent from NUH, resulting in almost 1,500 procedures and appointments being postponed. On Monday, Nottinghamshire health leaders declared a system-wide critical incident as a result of pressures on its services.
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