Nurses planning to walk out on strike for two days next month have received support and well-wishes from ECHO readers.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Aintree, Broadgreen, Liverpool Women's Hospital and other city sites will walk out on December 15 and 20. The strikes will be the largest industrial action the profession has ever seen.
Royal College of Nursing members working on Agenda for Change contracts at hospital trusts across the country will be walking out in the dispute over pay and patient safety. The RCN has repeated calls on the UK government to accept its request for negotiations. The union said the number of NHS employers affected by the action will increase in January unless fresh talks are held.
READ MORE: Nurses across Liverpool to strike on two days next month as one says 'we're in dire straits'
One nurse in Liverpool, who asked not to be named, told the ECHO's Liam Thorp she has been forced to turn to foodbanks to help feed her children amid soaring costs. The senior nurse, who has worked for the NHS for 12 years, added: "I love my job and I'm proud to work for the NHS, I believe in it, but I am struggling to pay my bills.
"I was embarrassed going to a foodbank in my uniform. I'm panicking and feel physically sick when I think of the situation I am in. All we want is to be able to do our jobs safely and to afford to live."
ECHO readers have expressed sympathy and support for the nurses after the announcement earlier this evening. Jackie Wilcox Murray said: "Good luck - they deserve so so much more than what they get, even more so since covid...they deserve double what they are paid."
Anya Leadbetter added: "Solidarity with the nurses - they deserve so much more and seeing them driven into poverty while the rich get richer is truly sickening. To think only two short years ago they were being lauded as heroes but now they're the world's worst for making a stand. I wish them and everyone else striking the best of luck and I hope they get what they want."
Donna Blakemore also addressed how the government encouraged the public to gather every week during the pandemic to clap for the NHS. She said: "100% behind all of you. The nation came out clapping our NHS and essential workers through the pandemic. The politicians praised them to the heavens.
"Now these same politicians have abandoned them. I hope you all get the pay you deserve. Maybe we should all clap our NHS again on the days they are striking and show this waste of space government just whose side we're on."
Alex Brown is also supporting the strikes "100%". He said: "It's an incredibly important role and they deserve paying better, especially considering shift patterns and car parking fees at hospitals amongst many other things."
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said ministers had "declined my offer of formal pay negotiations and instead chose strike action". Ms Cullen added: "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."
The RCN said that despite this year's pay award of £1,400, experienced nurses are worse off by 20% in real terms due to successive below-inflation awards since 2010. The union is calling for a pay rise of 5% above RPI inflation, saying the economic argument for paying nursing staff fairly is clear when billions of pounds is being spent on agency staff to plug workforce gaps.
Two other key health unions, Unison and the GMB are due to announce within days the results of ballots they have undertaken among their members about strike action. Both represent paramedics and others who work in NHS ambulance services.
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."
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