A nurse went on strike so everyone can have the same quality of care as her daughter who died of breast cancer four months ago.
Ann San, a nurse for 35 years, stood with colleagues in freezing temperatures on the picket outside Old Swan Walk-in Centre on the first day of the first strike in the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) 106-year history. The 65-year-old stuck with the profession for so long because of "a duty of care" she feels to her patients, who have chronic diseases. But now she fears the emergence of a "two-tier system" that might have denied her daughter, Jeannette Rowe, care.
Motivated by Jeannette's passion for the NHS, Ann told the ECHO: "I know she'd want me to be here because she was as passionate about the NHS as I am. She got fantastic treatment, she got fantastic care, and I don't want to see that stop for anybody else. But unfortunately now, people are being affected by it. I want every patient to get the same standard of care that my daughter got."
READ MORE: Angry and tired, Liverpool's defiant nurses make their voices heard
The strike comes after RCN members rejected a pay rise of less than 5% on average, but for many nurses it's about more than just pay. It's about the nurses crying due to burnout because they're working understaffed shifts as a result of the health service struggling to hire and retain nurses, leading to 47,000 nursing vacancies, due in part to years of stagnant wages.
Nurses on the Old Swan picket said they regularly work shifts with fewer nurses than is safe for patients, fewer even than the safe staffing levels being maintained during the strike. At the same time, there is growing demand on the NHS from patients with increasingly complex conditions, fueling a cycle of pressure, burnout and understaffing that's pushing nurses to breaking point.
Patients are desperate too, desperate to skip the waiting lists and avoid the gridlock plaguing the NHS. That pushes some to private healthcare, either out of pocket or through insurance, but most people can't afford private care, and insurance is limited in what it covers.
Ann's daughter Jeannette, 41, wanted to go on one last holiday with her husband Tommy and daughters Heidi and Esmae before she died, and they took out insurance to allow her to do this even with her condition. Ann said: "She wanted to take her two children on holiday in the summer. We took out travel insurance for patients with cancer and as soon as they found out that my daughter's cancer progressed, it was stopped and we weren't able to take her on her last holiday with her children.
"We've already got a two-tier health service in this country - we've got a service for the rich, and then we've got a service for the rest of us, and that shouldn't happen. From the time that you're born, you should have the same equity in health as everybody across the board. You shouldn't be able to jump queues because you've got money.
"People are so desperate, and I understand why people are desperate. For me, this fight is not just about the pay. It's about conditions. I got the ECHO the other night and I couldn't believe it when I saw there were children lying on the floor in Arrowe Park Hospital. These were children lying on the floor with their parents, and I thought, 'Is this the best that we can offer?' So I get really mad when we can't afford to pay nurses."
The RCN is asking for a pay rise of at least matching inflation plus 5%, which would be an increase of roughly 16%. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described this as not "affordable" as it would have to be applied to all staff on Agenda for Change contracts, which also includes paramedics, who are going on strike across the country on Wednesday, December 21, and midwives, who this week voted for strike action in Wales.
Up to 100,000 nurses will walk out on strike for a second day on Tuesday, December 20, picketing sites including Old Swan, the Royal Liverpool Hospital and Alder Hey Children's Hospital. RCN leader Pat Cullen offered to call off the two days of industrial action if the government entered formal pay negotiations with the union, but the government has deferred responsibility to an independent pay review body.
Cullen, the union's general secretary, said: "I have tried to negotiate and get governments to act. They've had every chance but they chose to turn their back on us. As hard as this is, we won't turn our backs on our patients. That's why we'll be on picket lines today, and I will be with you."
She added: "For many of us, this is our first time striking and our emotions are really mixed. The NHS is in crisis, the nursing profession can't take any more, our loved ones are already suffering. It is not unreasonable to demand better. This is not something that can wait. We are committed to our patients and always will be."
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