The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced that UK nurses will stage two more strikes next month as a dispute with the government over pay shows no clear sign of reaching a resolution.
Nurses in England and Wales will strike on February 6 and 7 with more NHS trusts taking part than during two days of strikes in December, marking an escalation of industrial action.
NHS Providers interim chief executive Saffron Cordery said the announcement was “very worrying”.
“The health service is already stretched far too thin as trust leaders try to cope with ongoing industrial action alongside other mounting pressures bearing down on the NHS," she said.
“We’ve seen how disruptive these strikes can be, and more extensive industrial action is likely to have an even greater impact. Nobody wants this to continue happening.
“We understand how frustrated nurses feel, and how they have got to this point: below-inflation pay awards, the cost-of-living crisis, severe staff shortages and increasing workloads have created near-impossible conditions.
“There are three weeks between now and these newly announced dates in February.
“This is more than enough time for the government and the unions to open negotiations on pay for 2022-2023 and avert more strikes.”
Ambulance workers in the UK go on strike - in pictures
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Workers wave flags on a picket line outside the East Midlands Ambulance Service in Nottingham, as members of the Unison and GMB trade unions take industrial action. PA -
Ambulances lie idle at Huddersfield Ambulance Station. EPA -
Ambulance workers on the picket line. EPA -
Call handlers, paramedics and emergency care assistants from the GMB and Unison trade unions. PA -
Ambulance workers on strike in Huddersfield. EPA
Nurses at 55 NHS trusts in England are scheduled to walk out on Wednesday and Thursday this week, but the February action from the RCN will cover 73 trusts.
About 12 health boards and organisations in Wales will also take part in the two consecutive days of strikes.
In December, thousands of nurses at trusts across England and Wales took part in two strike days, leading to the cancellation of thousands of hospital appointments and operations.
Meanwhile, the GMB held a meeting of its ambulance committee on Monday, and will announce the outcome on Wednesday.
It is likely that more strikes will be called in the dispute over pay and staffing.
RCN chief executive Pat Cullen said of the latest strike announcement: “It is with a heavy heart that nursing staff are striking this week and again in three weeks. Rather than negotiate, (Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak has chosen strike action again.
“We are doing this in a desperate bid to get him and ministers to rescue the NHS.
“The only credible solution is to address the tens of thousands of unfilled jobs — patient care is suffering like never before.
“My olive branch to government — asking them to meet me half way and begin negotiations — is still there. They should grab it.”
Nurses strike in the UK - in pictures
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Members of the Royal College of Nursing on the picket line outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, as nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland strike over pay. PA -
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary Pat Cullen joins members on the picket line outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. PA -
NHS nursing staff outside Guy's Hospital in London. Bloomberg -
Demonstrators outside St Thomas' Hospital in London. Bloomberg -
The picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital. PA -
About a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England are striking, alongside all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales. Bloomberg -
RCN members outside St Thomas' Hospital. Reuters -
Nurses on strike outside Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle. PA -
A message to the government outside St Thomas' Hospital. Reuters -
Nurses on the picket line outside Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool. PA -
Nurses brave the cold for the strike in London. Reuters -
Ms Cullen, head of the RCN union, speaks to the media outside St Thomas' Hospital. Reuters -
A sign, right, referring to the Clap for our Carers campaign during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many nurses say they would rather be rewarded with a pay rise. Reuters
The RCN has been calling for a pay rise at 5 per cent above inflation, although it has said it will accept a lower offer.
Inflation was running at 7.5 per cent when it submitted the 5 per cent figure to the independent pay review body in March.
But inflation has since soared, with RPI standing at 14.2 per cent in September.
Across the NHS, there are more than 130,000 staff vacancies.
“I hoped that the Welsh government would change their approach and come back to the table to negotiate with the RCN seriously on NHS pay and offer a substantive and restorative pay award. This has not happened to date," said Director of RCN Wales Helen Whyley.
“Their offer of a non-consolidated one-off payment, funded by monies ‘found down the back of the sofa’, shows the Welsh government’s disrespect for the crisis in the nursing workforce and a lack of a real commitment to want to address it.”
Winter strikes in Britain - in pictures
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Protesters march through Trafalgar Square, towards Downing Street, London, during a nurses' strike. PA -
A rally in support of striking Amazon workers outside the retailer's warehouse in Coventry. Reuters -
Members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy on the picket line outside London's St Thomas' Hospital as they strike for the first time. PA -
Teachers gather at The Mound in central Edinburgh to highlight the need for a fair pay deal for Scotland's teachers as they continue to take strike action. PA -
Paramedic Gabriel McComish, on the picket line outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, as thousands of health and social care workers in Northern Ireland take part in strike action. PA -
Ambulance workers on the picket line outside London Ambulance Service NHS Trust control room in Waterloo, London. PA -
Ambulance workers gather at a picket line in Waterloo, London. AFP -
Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland teaching union join a rally outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. PA -
Striking ambulance workers outside the NHS London Ambulance Service HQ in London. Reuters -
Passengers at a busy King's Cross station in London after a strike by RMT union members. PA -
Driving examiners on a PCS picket line outside Goodmayes Driving Test Centre in London. EPA -
Nurses and supporters march towards Downing Street after a day of strike action in London. Getty Images -
Travellers waiting for Euston station to open in London. Getty Images -
A warning sign at Heathrow Airport in London. Bloomberg -
A packed concourse at London Euston station on Christmas Eve. Getty Images -
Striking Border Force workers picket at Gatwick Airport. EPA -
Armed forces personnel drive an ambulance as paramedics, ambulance technicians and call handlers strike in England and Wales. PA -
A notice about strike action outside Mount Pleasant Mail Centre in Farringdon, as Royal Mail workers stage strikes. PA -
Ambulance workers and supporters gather outside Brent Ambulance Station in London. Getty Images -
Members of the Fire and Rescue Service join demonstrators on a picket line at Manchester Ambulance Station. Getty Images -
Ambulances outside the West Midlands Ambulance Service headquarters in Coventry during a strike. PA
Downing Street urged union leaders to call off the action.
“We would continue to urge unions to step back from strike action, which will have an impact on patient care," said the prime minister’s official spokesman.
“We know in the first round of strikes 11,000 appointments were cancelled. So it’s inevitable that this, on a larger scale, will have a larger impact and that is hugely regrettable at a time when the health service is under significant pressure.
“We feel like there have been constructive talks with the unions and we’d want those to continue rather than taking to the picket lines.”
The RCN said it will not take action in Northern Ireland next month, while in Scotland strike action is on hold as negotiations continue.
Its decision to strike on February 6 is designed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Robert Francis inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, which highlighted the effect of nurse shortages on patient care and excess deaths.
The inquiry uncovered the neglect of hundreds of patients at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2009, with accounts of some elderly people being left lying in their own urine, unable to eat, drink or take essential medication.
In a letter to the health secretary last week, Mr Francis and the Patients Association’s chief executive, Rachel Power, described the current stress on the NHS and excess death levels as “Mid Staffs playing out on a national level, if not worse”.
During the strike action, the health service will most likely run a bank holiday-style service in many areas.
UK nurses walk out for second time threatening further strikes in pay dispute - video
For the strikes this week, the RCN has agreed to still staff chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care.
Some areas of mental health and learning disability and autism services are also exempt, while trusts will be told they can request staffing for specific clinical needs.
When it comes to adult A&E and urgent care, nurses will work Christmas Day-style rotas.
Last Wednesday, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he does not “think it is right” to “retrospectively” go back to April when it comes to reviewing the current pay award for NHS staff.
It came after reports he is considering backdating any 2023-2024 pay rise, due to be finalised in the spring, to this month in order to boost the current year’s settlement offer.
Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if he is considering “reopening” the current year’s negotiations, Mr Barclay said it was not right to go back to April but suggested nothing was off the table.
