NHS nurses’ strike dates announced: Staff to walk out for two days in December in dispute over pay

Published

2 years ago

November 25, 2022

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NHS nurses are to strike for two days in December in a dispute over pay and patient safety.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will take industrial action on 15 and 20 December across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

In Scotland, industrial action is being paused while pay negotiations continue.

The strike ballot among more than 300,000 members of the RCN was the biggest in the union’s 106-year history.

The union has demanded its members receive a pay rise of at least 17%, adding that years of low pay is “pushing nursing staff out of the profession and putting patient care at risk”.

Nurses had given the government a deadline to open “detailed negotiations” and threatened to announce strike dates for December.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “My offer of formal negotiations was declined and instead ministers have chosen strike action.

“Nursing staff have had enough of being taken for granted, enough of low pay and unsafe staffing levels, enough of not being able to give our patients the care they deserve.”

Pay demand ‘not affordable’

The health secretary praised the hard work and dedication of nurses, and expressed his deep regret that some will be taking industrial action.

Steve Barclay said: “These are challenging times for everyone and the economic circumstances mean the RCN’s demands, which on current figures are a 19.2% pay rise, costing £10bn a year, are not affordable.”

The RCN’s demanding an increase based on the RPI inflation rate (which was 14.2% in October) plus 5%.

In England and Wales, NHS staff have seen an average rise of 4.75% this year, in Scotland the offer was a flat rate of just over £2,200, while in Northern Ireland no pay award can be approved without an Executive in place.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt – who previously held the post of health secretary – said he has a “great deal of sympathy” for nurses struggling with the cost of living, but insists the best way to help them is to bring inflation down.

Data from the London School of Economics found salaries of experienced nurses have declined by 20% in real terms over the last 10 years. This means nurses are effectively working one day a week for free.

That mirrors recent research by the health charity Nuffield Trust, which said NHS staff pay remained lower in real terms in 2021/22 than it was in 2010/11.

‘Something needs to change’

RCN director Patricia Marquis told Sky News nursing pay has fallen behind during the last decade and the action was nurses telling ministers “something needs to change”.

“Our members are sending a very loud message to the government that things need to change for nurses in their NHS,” she said.

“We got a pay award this year of £1,400 which may sound a lot to people, but actually nursing pay has fallen behind over the last 10 years by around the rate of inflation plus 5% – so our members are hugely disappointed that they didn’t get anywhere near what they needed to take their salaries back to the level they were 10 years ago.

“What is really worrying them is the impact that’s having on patient care. There aren’t enough nurses and nursing staff to deliver the care that’s needed. So patients are waiting too long for their operations, they are waiting for ambulances and they are waiting for beds, and it just is not safe for patients any longer, and nurses are saying ‘we have had enough, we can’t continue, something needs to change’.”

NHS vacancies at record high

Nursing vacancies hit a record 47,000 in England between April and June, a rise of a fifth on the year before.

The RCN says 25,000 nursing staff in the UK left the Nursing and Midwifery Council register in the last year.

This summer, MPs from the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee described the staffing issues as “the greatest workforce crisis” in the history of the NHS.

The union blames not just pay, but also heavy workloads.

The RCN is not the only health union threatening strike action.

A ballot among Unison members closes on Friday, and among Unite’s NHS members next week.

Midwives and physiotherapists are also voting on taking action, and junior doctors will be balloted in the new year.

Meanwhile, ambulance staff in Scotland are due to walk out on Monday.

DAMAGING AND DIVISIVE STRIKES ARE IN NOBODY’S INTERESTS

The government says the nurses’ pay demands are unreasonable. The nurses say they cannot afford to work like this any longer.

And right in the middle of the two are the patients who are finding out if the dates announced for strike action will mean their long awaited NHS appointment is going to be delayed. Again.

Both sides say emergency services will not be affected. And minimal staffing will remain on wards in hospitals that have backed industrial action to ensure patients are not at any risk.

The government is putting out reassurance messages to allay patient fears – but nothing to say what will happen about missed appointments, scans, operations and other procedures.

That’s because as the nurses union, the RCN, points out, industrial action must have some sort of impact otherwise there is no point in striking.

So elective lists will be paused temporarily, and the seven million number is bound to grow. That will put more pressure on the nurses and other healthcare workers trying to cut through that backlog.

The nurses argue that only better pay will help recruitment and retention. There are thousands of vacancies – and nurses continue to leave the profession. Their colleagues say they are being asked to step in to fill those gaps by working longer and harder.

The nurses might be joined by other hospital staff as unions ballot their members. That could see paramedics, call handlers and nonmedical hospital staff like porters joining the picket lines.

Hospitals will not be able to function normally. And every missed appointment needs to be rescheduled. That takes time and staff and resources, just as the NHS is buckling under immense pressure.

Morale among nurses has been low for a long time, and many are still trying to process what they have been through. But things are about to get worse.

I have spoken to nurses from both sides – the ones who want to strike and those who don’t. The divisions are already there and set to intensify. That will be really damaging.

It is nobody’s interest: patients, nurses or NHS managers, for this dispute to drag on.

Labour blames Tory ‘negligence‘

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting blamed the government for failing to negotiate with the RCN.

He said: “Patients already can’t get treated on time, strike action is the last thing they need, yet the government is letting this happen. Patients will never forgive the Conservatives for this negligence.”

What about the safety of patients?

Unlike strikes in other sectors, some nurses will be exempt from taking part in strike action – called “derogations” – to maintain safe staffing levels and ensure patients are not harmed.

An RCN spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring life-preserving service is in place and will be confirming derogations with individual employers in due course.”

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Nurses could follow the example set in Northern Ireland in 2019, when staff went on strike.

The RCN has described on its website how staffing was managed on three levels:

• complete derogation, with an entire service being staffed like intensive care units
• limited to a Sunday service or Christmas Day service
• limited to a night duty model

Could agency workers replace striking nurses?

The RCN advice is clear: “If you’re an agency worker allocated to work at an NHS organisation on a day of strike action, we at the RCN expect that you do not cover that shift.

“You could ask your agency to find you alternative work at an organisation that is not taking strike action, for example a private hospital or care home.”

That doesn’t mean agency staff have to follow the advice, though – and some shifts can be lucrative.

A recent freedom of information request by Labour showed one in three NHS trusts have paid an agency more than £1,000 for a single shift last year, and one in six trusts paid more than £2,000.

UK

Liverpool win Premier League title to equal Man Utd’s record

Published

7 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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Liverpool win Premier League title to equal Man Utd's record

Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.

Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.

It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.

However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.

In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.

The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.

But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.

“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”

Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.

He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.

Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”

Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.

Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.

Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.

It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.

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UK

Protesters throw powder on Tower Bridge during London Marathon

Published

13 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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Protesters throw powder on Tower Bridge during London Marathon

Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.

The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.

A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.

The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.

They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.

A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.

Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.

There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.

More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.

Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.

“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”

The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.

The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.

UK

Kemi Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform after next week’s council elections

Published

17 hours ago

April 27, 2025

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Kemi Badenoch does not rule out local coalitions with Reform after next week's council elections

Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out forming coalitions at a local level with Reform after the council elections next week.

Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the Conservative leader did however categorically rule out a pact with Nigel Farage’s party on a national level.

“I am not going into any coalition with Nigel Farage… read my lips,” she said.

However, she did not deny that deals could be struck with Reform at a local level, arguing that some councils might be under no overall control and in that case, “you have to do what is right for your local area”.

“You look at the moment, we are in coalition with Liberal Democrats, with independents,” she said. “We’ve been in coalition with Labour before at local government level.

“They [councillors] have to look at who the people are that they’re going into coalition with and see how they can deliver for local people.”

She added: “What I don’t want to hear is talks of stitch-ups or people planning things before the results are out. They have to do what is right for their communities.”

A total of 23 councils are up for grabs when voters go to the polls on Thursday 1 May – mostly in places that were once deemed Tory shires, until last year’s general election.

It includes 14 county councils, all but two of which have been Conservative-controlled, as well as eight unitary authorities, all but one of which are Tory.

Ms Badenoch has set expectations low for the Tories, suggesting they could lose all the councils they are contesting.

The last time this set of councils were up for election was in 2021, when the Conservative Party was led by Boris Johnson who was riding high from the COVID vaccine bounce.

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