LONDON — Hundreds of nurses in Britain walked out Wednesday in a latest protest over pay, ad infinitum to a wave of strikes that has piled pressure on the UK’s overburdened public health system.
Two 12-hour nursing strikes on Wednesday and Thursday affect a couple of quarter of hospitals and clinics in England. Emergency care and cancer treatment will proceed, but hundreds of appointments and procedures are prone to be postponed.
With more walkouts by nurses planned for next month — and ambulance employees announcing a latest slate of February strikes — the Conservative government is under growing pressure to lift its opposition to substantial raises for health care staff.
“It’s a job that I really like, but I would like to pay my bills,” said intensive care nurse Nav Singh, on a picket line in London. “Nursing students don’t need to be nurses, experienced nurses are leaving, there will probably be no-one left and I don’t blame them, but I can’t imagine doing the rest.”
Nurses, ambulance crews, train drivers, airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving instructors, bus drivers and postal employees have all walked off their jobs in recent months to demand higher pay amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Inflation within the UK hit a 41-year high of 11.1% in October, driven by sharply rising energy and food costs, before easing barely to 10.5% in December.
The nurses’ union has been looking for a pay raise of 5% above inflation, though it has said it can accept a lower offer.
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Pat Cullen, head of the Royal College of Nursing union, urged health officials to “get round a table and let’s stop the strikes so we don’t need to proceed this into February.”
“I might say to the prime minister this morning: If you must proceed to have strikes, then the voice of nursing will proceed to talk up on behalf of their patients and that’s exactly what you’ll get,” she told ITV.
The British government argues that double-digit public sector pay increases will drive inflation even higher.
“Unaffordable pay hikes will mean cutting patient care and stoking the inflation that might make us all poorer,” Health Secretary Steve Barclay wrote within the Independent newspaper.
The federal government also has angered unions by introducing a bill that may make it harder for key employees to strike by setting ”minimum safety levels” for firefighters, ambulance services and railways that have to be maintained during a walkout.
The nursing union has announced two more strike days next month, when disruption across the economy looks set to accentuate. Feb. 1 is shaping as much as be probably the most disruptive day yet, with walkouts by teachers, train drivers, civil servants and university staff.
The GMB union said Wednesday that 10,000 ambulance call handlers, paramedics and other staff across most of England will strike on February 6 and 20 and March 6 and 20.
“Our message to the federal government is evident — talk pay now,” said GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison.
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer accused the federal government of presiding over “lethal chaos” within the state-funded National Health Service, with many patients waiting hours for ambulances in emergencies.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the health system was coping with “unprecedented challenges,” but insisted the federal government was spending extra cash to alleviate the pressure — though he didn’t mention staff demands for higher pay.
“We’re investing more in urgent and emergency care to create more bed capability, we’re ensuring that the flow of patients through emergency care is quicker than it ever has been,” Sunak said within the House of Commons.
LONDON — Hundreds of nurses in Britain walked out Wednesday in a latest protest over pay, ad infinitum to a wave of strikes that has piled pressure on the UK’s overburdened public health system.
Two 12-hour nursing strikes on Wednesday and Thursday affect a couple of quarter of hospitals and clinics in England. Emergency care and cancer treatment will proceed, but hundreds of appointments and procedures are prone to be postponed.
With more walkouts by nurses planned for next month — and ambulance employees announcing a latest slate of February strikes — the Conservative government is under growing pressure to lift its opposition to substantial raises for health care staff.
“It’s a job that I really like, but I would like to pay my bills,” said intensive care nurse Nav Singh, on a picket line in London. “Nursing students don’t need to be nurses, experienced nurses are leaving, there will probably be no-one left and I don’t blame them, but I can’t imagine doing the rest.”
Nurses, ambulance crews, train drivers, airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving instructors, bus drivers and postal employees have all walked off their jobs in recent months to demand higher pay amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Inflation within the UK hit a 41-year high of 11.1% in October, driven by sharply rising energy and food costs, before easing barely to 10.5% in December.
The nurses’ union has been looking for a pay raise of 5% above inflation, though it has said it can accept a lower offer.
Commercial
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Pat Cullen, head of the Royal College of Nursing union, urged health officials to “get round a table and let’s stop the strikes so we don’t need to proceed this into February.”
“I might say to the prime minister this morning: If you must proceed to have strikes, then the voice of nursing will proceed to talk up on behalf of their patients and that’s exactly what you’ll get,” she told ITV.
The British government argues that double-digit public sector pay increases will drive inflation even higher.
“Unaffordable pay hikes will mean cutting patient care and stoking the inflation that might make us all poorer,” Health Secretary Steve Barclay wrote within the Independent newspaper.
The federal government also has angered unions by introducing a bill that may make it harder for key employees to strike by setting ”minimum safety levels” for firefighters, ambulance services and railways that have to be maintained during a walkout.
The nursing union has announced two more strike days next month, when disruption across the economy looks set to accentuate. Feb. 1 is shaping as much as be probably the most disruptive day yet, with walkouts by teachers, train drivers, civil servants and university staff.
The GMB union said Wednesday that 10,000 ambulance call handlers, paramedics and other staff across most of England will strike on February 6 and 20 and March 6 and 20.
“Our message to the federal government is evident — talk pay now,” said GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison.
Opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer accused the federal government of presiding over “lethal chaos” within the state-funded National Health Service, with many patients waiting hours for ambulances in emergencies.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the health system was coping with “unprecedented challenges,” but insisted the federal government was spending extra cash to alleviate the pressure — though he didn’t mention staff demands for higher pay.
“We’re investing more in urgent and emergency care to create more bed capability, we’re ensuring that the flow of patients through emergency care is quicker than it ever has been,” Sunak said within the House of Commons.
