Nurses to Hit NHS Harder with Bigger Strikes in February
NHS Nurses to Walk Out Across 73 Trusts
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced fresh strike action on February 6 and 7 – and it’s bigger than December’s walkouts. While nurses at 55 NHS trusts in England went on strike last month, this time 73 trusts will be affected. Across Wales, 12 health boards and organisations are also joining the two-day strike.
Emergency Care Will Be Preserved
RCN chief Pat Cullen stressed that nurses providing emergency and urgent care will be exempt. “We will not add any further risk or unsafe care to patients than they’re experiencing every single day,” she said. She apologised for any disruption but urged the public to support nurses standing up for better conditions.
“What those nurses are doing is standing up for their patients and saying we need to find a solution,” Cullen said. “We need to find ways to keep nursing staff so that patients can receive the care and treatment they deserve.”
RCN Slams Government Over Pay Review Body
Cullen slammed ministers for sticking rigidly to the advice of the Pay Review Body (PRB), which determines public sector pay.
The NHS is more important than upholding the values of the pay review body,” she said. “With the PRB, it cannot be business as usual; it must look different, consider our evidence differently, and deliver for nursing staff, because it has not delivered for our nursing staff to date.”
