Despite less than half (102 out of 215 NHS trusts in Britain) voting in favour, thousands of British nurses will strike for the first time and embark on a major stayaway after their union amassed a £50m “war chest” to pay them during walkouts.
It was revealed last week that nurses had secured a mandate for striking across all NHS employers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and in all but one in Wales. Meanwhile, reports Daily Mail, some 130 NHS employers are expecting the strikes to take place in England.
The threat has led to fears that death rates will rise if the walkouts spread.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) topped up its strikes fund by £15m ahead of balloting its more than 300 000 members, meaning nurses will be supported during strikes to the tune of £50 a day, raising the prospect of walkouts dragging on for months.
Critics have said this proved the strikes were politically motivated, and undermined the RCN’s claims that they were solely about pay.
They also pointed out that only 102 out of 215 NHS trusts in the country voted to strike, suggesting the union has far from overwhelming support among members.
The union wants nurses to get at least a 17% pay increase, saying an experienced nurse’s salary has fallen by 20% in real terms since 2010. But the RCN’s accounts show it gave its own staff less than half of what it is demanding, which Ministers say would cost £9bn.
The union spent £48.1m on staff wages last year – a 6% increase on the £45.3m it spent the year before. Dame Donna Kinnair, the union’s former boss, saw her remuneration package soar from £197 000 to £242 000. The latter amount is more than six times the average salary of a nurse.
The Health Secretary has said the pay demands are “neither reasonable nor affordable”, reports The Guardian. Steve Barclay said he was saddened by the proposed industrial action, which he said was in “nobody’s best interests”.
He has been resistant to negotiating on pay after the union demanded an increase of at least 15% compared with the £1 400 rise awarded earlier this year.
Barclay said the pay award “is a balanced increase”, which is “fair for nurses and the taxpayer”.
“Yet the RCN is demanding a massive pay rise of 17.6%; an increase that is simply neither reasonable nor affordable. It is about three times the average settlement that millions of hard-working people working outside the public sector will typically receive.
“Huge settlements like these would turbocharge inflation when we are endeavouring to keep it under control. It will have an adverse impact on people’s incomes in the long run.”
Barclay wrote his door “will always be open” to the unions, after a “constructive” meeting with nursing union boss Pat Cullen last week. The talks were said to have focused on a “wide range of issues” including patient safety and working conditions.
Last month a damning inquiry into the RCN exposed bullying, misogyny and a sexual culture where women are at risk of “alcohol and power-related exploitation”.
The report by Bruce Carr KC laid bare how the union’s leadership has been “riddled with division, dysfunction and distrust”.
It also described its male-dominated governing body as “not fit for purpose” and found that its annual conference had an “inappropriate sexual culture” which warranted further investigation “to identify the extent to which (it) has actually resulted in exploitation of the vulnerable”.
Cullen admitted that “behaviours have fallen short in the past” and apologised, vowing to stamp out any rogue behaviour.
The chief nursing officer (CNO) for England has stressed that she wants to “see a resolution as soon as possible”. Dame Ruth May took to social media site Twitter last Thursday to provide a short statement in reaction to the results of strike ballot over pay, reports Nursing Times.
“As CNO for England, I value the contribution that every nurse and midwife makes,” she said. “Patient safety is paramount and the NHS will work with the government and trade unions to minimise disruption to patient care should action take place.
“While pay is a matter for government and the trade unions, we want to see a resolution as soon as possible.”
The action is expected to begin by the new year and could potentially run until May.
Nursing Times article – England’s chief nurse responds to impending RCN strike action (Open access)
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First ever mass NHS nurses strike looms over pay
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