Nurses warn they're ready to strike in New Year over dangerous understaffing

28 December 2023 , 00:01

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In her New Year message Pat Cullen (centre) warned of fresh battles with the Government (Image: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)

Tories did enough to "save their skins" but failed to tackle the dangerously overstretched NHS in 2023, a union boss said in a New Year battle cry.

In a message today, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief Pat Cullen warns of further action over staffing levels. She will urge members to "again push ministers further than they want to go". The RCN is braced for a tense battle with the Government over safety, with latest figures showing nurses regularly care for 10 to 15 patients. The union warns this is dangerous, with an alarming 40,000 nursing vacancies in England's NHS.

Ms Cullen will say: “How did the year go? Politicians only granted us modest progress – enough to save their own skins but not the revolution that nursing needs and patients deserve. Would we do it over again? Yes, by your actions you forced ministers to announce a top-up on the previous year’s pay settlement and give more than they had wanted to for the current year."

She said that while ministers had relented over pay following a series of walkouts, "their desire to fix nursing was simply not as strong as ours". Ms Cullen said the RCN would be pushing the Government for a "big commitment" on staffing levels and patient safety.

Speaking ahead of the general election, she said health workers would be pushing all parties. She said: "To save their own skins in the new year, their answer will have to be better than what’s gone before. Ours is a proud profession with reason to be hopeful – the voice of nursing is a political one and we intend to use it." She warned that nurses would fight over draconian plans to force NHS staff to cross picket lines.

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The RCN boss said: “Despite promises earlier this year that the new Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act would not target nursing staff, we’re now faced with proposals for hospital workers that could see them forced to work during strikes or face the sack. What happens when our politicians turn their backs on us? When governments refuse to hear our concerns about patient safety, pay and safe staffing? We’re forced to strike."

Dave Burke