London Daily

Focus on the big picture.

Nurses could strike until Christmas, union leader says

Nurses could strike until Christmas, union leader says

Royal College of Nursing leader Pat Cullen called for the Government to improve its pay offer to avoid further strikes.
Nurses could strike until Christmas if they cannot reach a deal with the Government, a union leader has warned.

The NHS faces a summer of chaos after members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) rejected a pay deal on Friday evening.

The union announced members will walk out from 8pm on Sunday April 30 to 8pm on Tuesday May 2.

RCN leader Pat Cullen called for the Government to improve its pay offer to avoid further strikes. However, she assured patients that nurses will come off picket lines to deal with emergencies.

The new wave of protests will see NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care and cancer wards take industrial action for the first time.

Asked if the union will stop strike action, Ms Cullen told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg On Sunday programme: “No, our nurses will absolutely not do that.

“We have strike action for the end of this month and the beginning of May.

“Then we will move immediately to ballot our members.

“If that ballot is successful it will mean further strike action right up until Christmas.”

The union leader added that nurses saw a one-off Covid bonus offered by the Government as a “bribe”.

NHS Providers deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery told the programme it is “not sustainable” for the NHS to continue managing strike action.

She said: “It’s really clear to me that it’s not sustainable going forward for the NHS to manage strike action.

“It feels like a really ugly situation to say we are going to have strikes now until Christmas.

“We really desperately need the Government to come to the table alongside the unions coming to the table to sort this out.”

In an opinion piece for The Sun, Health Secretary Steve Barclay warned that fresh nurses’ strikes would have a “deeply concerning” impact on emergency services and cancer care.

The Health Secretary called on the RCN to accept the Government’s pay offer so the NHS can “get back to focusing on patients”.

Ms Cullen confirmed she had received a letter from Mr Barclay on Sunday morning.

On Friday, Unison’s NHS members accepted the NHS pay offer of a 5% pay rise this year and a cash payment for last year. However, 54 per cent of RCN members voted to reject the deal.

The turnout among RCN members employed on NHS Agenda for Change contracts in England was 61 per cent. The RCN announcement came as around 47,000 junior doctors finished their 96-hour strike in a separate dispute over pay at 7am on Saturday.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting appealed to the RCN to continue to protect emergency lifesaving care if it strikes again.

The Labour politician told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “I’m deeply worried about the risk of escalation of the nature of their dispute, to remove what’s known as the derogations, the measures they put in place to protect those areas of care.”

Tory Party chairman Greg Hands said more strikes by nurses would “clearly have an impact” as he declined to criticise them for deciding not to provide cover for emergencies.

Mr Hands told Sky News: “I think the public are very concerned, understandably, and we will do everything that we can, and I’m sure the management of the NHS will do everything that it can to make sure that the impact of the strike is kept under control.

“But I wouldn’t be being truthful if I didn’t say it will have an impact. Nurses going on strike will clearly have an impact.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

London Daily
0:00
0:00
Close
Scandal in New York: Former Top Health Advisor to Mayor Caught in Hidden Recording Admitting to Hosting Sex and Drug Parties During Peak of the Pandemic
Google Warns the UK About AI Competitiveness
X Social Media Platform Ordered Offline Again in Brazil
Time for a Noodle Tax? Or Just Another Politician Payday?
Kentucky Sheriff Arrested for Fatal Shooting of Judge
Mohamed Al-Fayed Accused of Multiple Rapes
Lebanon Bans Pagers and Walkie-Talkies on Flights After Deadly Blasts
Global Workdays Required to Afford iPhone 16
Greece's Golden Visa: Surge in Indian Investments
Elliott Hill Returns as CEO of Nike
Keir Starmer Defends Using Corporate Box at Arsenal to Cut Security Costs
Labour Faces Significant Challenges in Upcoming Scottish Elections
Crucial Talks on Workers’ Rights Between Ministers and Union Leaders
UK Faces Dilemma Over ICC Arrest Warrant for Netanyahu
Severe Traffic Disruption on M25 Due to Lorry Fire
Consumer Confidence Drops Significantly Ahead of Upcoming Budget
Keir Starmer Confirms Leadership Amid Sue Gray Pay Controversy
Sexual Assault Allegations Against Mohamed Al Fayed
Israel Destroys 1,000 Hezbollah Rocket Launcher Barrels
Biden to Meet Zelenskyy at White House on September 26
Tragic Explosions in Beirut Linked to Conflict Escalation
Trump Unveils New Cryptocurrency Venture Amidst Campaign
Meta Introduces New 'Teen Accounts' for Instagram Users Under 18
OpenAI Advances with New AI Model 'o1'
One in Five GPs Use AI for Daily Tasks
Italy’s Approach to Reducing Irregular Migration: A Model for the UK?
NGOs Condemn Home Office's £15m Offer for Deportee Resettlement
Sue Gray's Salary Sparks Controversy Among Labour Advisers
Navigating Fashion: UK Leaders' Spouses in the Media Age
Top UK Food Firms Criticized for High Emissions
Keir Starmer Pressured to Select Outsider for Top Civil Service Role
British MPs and International Organisations' X Accounts Hacked
Diddy Charged with Racketeering and Sex Trafficking
X Update Enables App to Bypass Brazil Ban, Say Internet Providers
Delta Airlines Sets Strict Wardrobe Guidelines for Flight Attendants
Norway Achieves Milestone in Electric Vehicle Adoption
Hezbollah Hit by Explosive Pagers in Lebanon
Ex-Soldier Describes Trump Assassination Suspect's Troubled Ukraine Stint
The Observer, World's Oldest Sunday Newspaper, Up for Sale
JPMorgan in Negotiations with Apple Over Credit Card Partnership
Ghislaine Maxwell's Sex-Trafficking Conviction Upheld by Appeals Court
Will the Blind Commander-in-Chief Lead Blind Voters into War?
Hillary Clinton Suggests Jailing Americans for Posting “Misinformation”
El Salvador's Bold Move: President Bukele Declares End to External Debt Reliance, Thanks to Bitcoin
Startup Nation Unleashes Cyber Mastery: Hezbollah’s encrypted pager devices began simultaneously, exploding across Lebanon, including in Damascus. Initial reports estimate around 1,000 casualties so far.
Patient Controls Amazon's Alexa Using Brain Implant
Murdoch Family Legal Feud Could Alter Fox News' Future
US Diplomat Condemns Racism Against Indian Americans
Amazon Mandates Full Return to Office for Employees
Starmer Interested in Italy's Albania Asylum Plan: Meloni
×