Services will be reduced to “an absolute minimum”, the union said, and hospitals will be asked to rely on members of other unions and other clinical professionals…reports Asian Lite News
Nursing staff, including those working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other services that were previously exempt, are significantly escalating next month’s strike.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced on Thursday evening that industrial action taking place at more than 120 NHS trusts in England will run continuously for 48 hours between 6am on Wednesday, March 1 until Friday, March 3 at 6am.
Previous action took place only during the day shift, for 12 hours each time. The escalation comes as the government refuses to engage in negotiations on pay, the RCN said.
Services will be reduced to “an absolute minimum”, the union said, and hospitals will be asked to rely on members of other unions and other clinical professionals.
London NHS trusts affected include Guys and St Thomas’s and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children. RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said: “It is with a heavy heart that I have today asked even more nursing staff to join this dispute.
“These strikes will not just run for longer and involve more people but will leave no area of the NHS unaffected. Patients and nurses alike did not want this to happen.
“By refusing to negotiate with nurses, the Prime Minister is pushing even more people into the strike. He must listen to NHS leaders and not let this go ahead. “I will do whatever I can to ensure patient safety is protected. At first, we asked thousands to keep working during the strikes but it is clear that is only prolonging the dispute.
“This action must not be in vain – the Prime Minister owes them an answer.” The union is continuing discussions with the NHS at a national level as part of its “life and limb” care.
A strike last week saw the RCN agree 5,000 exemptions at local level through committees of NHS hospitals and RCN staff, but this process will be stopped for the March dates.
Chief executive at NHS Providers Sir Julian Hartley said it’s “the most worrying escalation of strikes yet”. “With more than 140,000 appointments already postponed as a result of the walkouts, this is a step no one wants to take.
“With further strikes by ambulance workers planned in the coming days and weeks, and junior doctors’ walkouts also likely, trust leaders are now in a near-impossible position.”
Hartley said staff are “deeply concerned” the escalation could hamper efforts to tackle care backlogs.
“Trust leaders will be working flat out to ensure patient safety and provision of vital services, but they can only do so much by themselves. The government needs to talk to the unions urgently about pay for this financial year.”