NHS nurses’ strike dates announced: Staff to walk out for two days in December in dispute over pay
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.”
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Is your area among the worst affected by nurses’ strike?
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‘Enough is enough’ – Nursing union
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.
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UK strikes: What does the data show?
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.
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‘Great deal of sympathy for nurses’
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.
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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.
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Pay rise ‘not affordable’
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
Local elections 2024: Labour pulling off strong wins with ‘truly historic’ shock in Tory stronghold – as results show Brexit shift
Labour has won control of a string of Leave-voting councils as results roll in from the local elections across England and Wales.
The party was also buoyed by victory in the Blackpool South by-election, with a 26.33% swing from the Tories.
Among the key council gains, Labour took Rushmoor in Hampshire, which the Conservatives had run for the last 24 years.
It also seized Redditch in the West Midlands, turning a Conservative majority of five into a Labour majority of 15.
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Winners and losers
Follow the results as they come in
And Labour has retaken Hartlepool Council – the scene of a major by-election loss back in 2021, which led Sir Keir Starmer to consider quitting as leader – and Thurrock in Essex, from no overall control, saying it was “exactly the kind of place we need to be winning to gain a majority in a general election”.
And the party replaced the Tories as the largest party on Peterborough Council which, while remaining under no overall control, saw the Conservatives lose 13 of the 16 seats they were defending.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives lost control of North East Lincolnshire after Labour won five of the seats up for grabs – with neither party now holding a majority on the council.
All six areas overwhelmingly voted Leave in the 2016 Brexit referendum, with Thurrock supporting it by 72.3%, North East Lincolnshire by 69.9%, Hartlepool by 69.6%, Redditch by 62.3%, Peterborough by 60.9% and Rushmoor by 58.2%.
However, Labour lost control in its traditional heartland of Oldham, which has a large Muslim population, with many blaming the party’s stance on the conflict in Gaza.
And while keeping its grip on Newcastle, it saw a number of seats fall to the Greens.
The Tories also clung on by a single seat in Harlow, a council targeted by Sir Keir on the eve of polling day.
Pic: Getty
In other important developments:
• Labour held on to Sunderland Council
• It also kept control of South Tyneside and Chorley
• The Tories held on to other councils in Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Essex
More than 2,600 council seats across 107 councils were up for grabs in England, alongside 11 mayoral elections, a parliamentary seat and police and crime commissioners throughout England and Wales – with many of the results still coming in.
But early signs show Labour is winning back seats in areas it lost over the Brexit debate, as well as making gains in traditionally Tory voting councils.
Read more:
Labour gains new MP with Blackpool by-election win
‘People crying out for change’ – Labour
Tory party chairman Richard Holden told Sky News it had been a “tough night” for the Conservatives, but argued it was coming off a “very high watermark set of elections in 2021” and “typical for a government in midterm”.
But he said: “I do feel sorry for a lot of my Conservative colleagues who have been out campaigning with across the country over the last few weeks and months who haven’t managed to hold their seats.”
However, he argued voters had not suggested they want to see “more change” within the Conservative Party, when pressed over Rishi Sunak’s position as leader and insisted the party “will be ready” whenever the election was called.
Labour’s shadow environment secretary Steve Reed told Sky News that while it was “early days”, the results so far were showing positive signs for Labour come the next general election.
“These are not polls,” he said. “These are people getting off their backsides, going out of their homes, into a polling station, putting a cross on a party that they want to govern their local area.
“People are crying out for change. I know that from speaking to people on the doorsteps and tonight, it looks like people around the country are voting for change.”
But while Tory MP James Daly said he “fully accepts” the loss of these councils, he insisted to Sky News his party could “still win in parts of the country where historically Labour have dominated” – including in Teeside, where Conservative Lord Houchen is defending his mayoralty.
Analysis:
Story of the night in charts
Blackpool is a big step to No 10 for Starmer
Tories in real trouble but Reform threat not all good for Labour
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‘A good night for Labour’
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Tories better some predictions but Lib Dems ‘buoyed’
The Conservatives bucked predictions in Harlow in Essex where it managed to keep control of the council – although its majority fell from 11 to one, and Labour gained five seats.
The party also held on to Broxbourne Council in Hertfordshire – an authority it has run for its entire 52-year history – and Fareham in Hampshire, though in the latter the Liberal Democrats picked up four seats.
A Lib Dem source said they were “buoyed” by their results overnight, claiming it set them up to take seats off the Tories at the next election.
“This is just a taster of what is to come throughout Friday in the Blue Wall,” they added.
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‘We’re surging, they’re sinking’
Reform UK is performing well, racking up an average vote share of between 14% and 15%, and pushing the Conservatives into third place in some areas, including Sunderland.
However, it isn’t fielding candidates everywhere – instead targeting Leave seats where its predecessors, the Brexit Party and UKIP, performed well – and has yet to win a seat or council for itself.
Hit sitcom Gavin & Stacey will return for its “last ever episode” on Christmas Day, James Corden has announced.
Corden posted a picture on his Instagram of himself and co-creator Ruth Jones holding a script.
The text on its cover reads: “Gavin & Stacey: the finale. Written by James Corden and Ruth Jones 2024.”
In the caption, Corden added: “Some news…It’s official!”
“We have finished writing the last ever episode of Gavin & Stacey. See you on Christmas Day, BBC One. Love Ruth and James.”
The series, which is primarily filmed in South Wales, first aired in 2007 and lasted for three series, before returning for a special in 2019.
James Corden and Ruth Jones. Pic: James Corden
The comedy follows the blossoming romance of Gavin Shipman (Matthew Horne) and Stacey West (Joanna Page). Shipman is from Essex and West is from Barry in Wales.
Corden and Jones appear as their respective best friends Smithy and Nessa.
Nessa’s catchphrase – “what’s occurring?” – is one of many widely quoted lines from the programme.
Other well-known actors in the cast include Rob Brydon, Melanie Walters, Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb.
A Christmas Day return for the series had been rumoured earlier this year after reports in US media.
Jones had previously denied the claims, but now the show’s comeback has been officially confirmed.
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The last special ended on a cliffhanger as audiences eagerly awaited Smithy’s response to Nessa’s marriage proposal.
The 2019 special was watched by around 18 million viewers.
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