An estimated 100,000 NHS nurses are striking in the first walkout in the union?s 106-year history.

An estimated 100,000 NHS nurses are striking in the first walkout in the union’s 106-year history. Striking is taking place today on 15 December and next week on 20 December at roughly 76 hospitals and health centres. 

In a battle over pay, the Royal College of Nursing  (RCN) is calling for a payrise 5% above inflation, currently amounting to a 17% hike, arguing that below inflation increases are compromising care and staff retention. The two day strike action is affecting  an estimated 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries in the NHS. Some treatments are exempt from strike action, such as chemotherapy, dialysis and intensive care. RCN general secretary Pat Cullen has said that this is a “tragic day” for nurses and patients alike.

What are the conditions that have led to the strikes?

• The RCN has voted to strike amidst a wave of industrial action in the UK; national rail, Border Force and postal service staff are all also striking this winter.
• A common theme between all of these industry strikes is pay. Between 2011 and 2021, NHS nurses’ average basic earnings fell by 5% in real terms.
• This year, their real pay has fallen by £1800 and there has been an overall decline of £5000 since 2010.
• Every year between 2010 and 2017, nurses' pay dropped 1.2%. 
• According to the Health Foundation, for the first three of those years, their pay was frozen.
• More than 40,000 nurses have walked away from the NHS in the past year alone.
• An NHS survey this year found only 21% of nurses and midwives say there is enough staff for them to do their jobs properly without serious consequences for both patient safety and staff wellbeing.
• A report by NHS Providers found that the rising cost of living is having a devastating impact on staff and patients, with all respondents feeling concerned over the mental, physical and financial wellbeing of staff under such pressures.
• 61% of Trusts report a rise in staff sickness absence due to mental health, with 71% describing this as having a significant or severe impact on their trust.
• 95% said the cost of living had either significantly or severely worsened health inequalities in their local area.
• “As rising housing, energy and food costs put more people in the position of making difficult choices about heating or eating, trust leaders expect to see more people pushed into poverty and its health consequences,” the report states.
• The cost of living crisis has also facilitated a rise in demand - 72% of Trusts said they have seen an increase in mental health presentations due to stress, debt and poverty.
• Trusts are attempting to support their staff - 72% offering financial advice and education - but there is only so much they can do to mitigate the wider conditions brought on by years of austerity, a pandemic, and the erosion of wages alongside rising inflation, food and fuel costs.
• A survey by the Cavell Trust found 14% (out of 2,500 nurses or health workers) were using foodbanks to feed themselves and their families, and a third of those surveyed have difficulty covering the cost of food and heating their homes.
• 27% of NHS trusts already operate food banks for staff and another 19% plan to open one.

Inflation is currently more than 10%. The government says a 4-5% pay rise offer was set by an independent body, but this does not alleviate the real-terms cuts experienced over the past decade. The pandemic was debilitating, with nurses and NHS staff becoming key workers and fighting the virus on the front lines. Only two years since the nation clapped on their doorsteps and the government praised staff, nurses are having to strike and fight for a reasonable pay rise in the middle of some of the hardest economic conditions faced by the British public. The government has said that it cannot afford to pay more than the 4-5% pay rise offered to nurses as further increases would mean “taking money away from frontline services.” 

RCN general secretary Cullen has said that Steve Barclay, the health secretary, refused to discuss pay with her at their meeting. In a statement, Cullen said:

“The government was true to its word - they would not talk to me about pay. I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nurses why they should not strike this week. Regrettably, they are not getting an extra penny.

Ministers had too little to say and I had to speak at length about the unprecedented strength of feeling in the profession. I expressed my deep disappointment at the belligerence – they have closed their books and walked away.”

In a self-authored article, Barclay wrote:

“As Health and Social Care Secretary, I will always do my utmost to support nurses in the vital work they do. This government is investing in the NHS workforce, with an extra 9,000 nurses recruited this year. We are on track to fulfil our promise of an extra 50,000 nurses over the course of the current Parliamentary term. This year, amid the huge pressure on the public finances after the pandemic, the government gave nurses a proportionate, balanced pay increase…we are giving over one million non-medical NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year, on top of a 3% pay increase last year when wider public sector pay was frozen.”

He called the 17.6% pay increase demand “neither reasonable nor affordable”, and it would “turbocharge inflation” when the government is trying to keep it under control. He remains open to dialogue but stands firm that the government “will not agree to unreasonable pay demands.”

In July this year, the government confirmed a £1400 pay rise for most nurses on full time salaries, equating to at least a 4% rise. However, given that, at that time, inflation was hovering between 9-10%, the increase was actually lower in real terms value.

The full report by NHS Providers can be found here. Barclay's full statement can be found here.

(Sources: Reuters, BBC News, The Guardian, The Tribune, CNN, NHS Providers, gov.co.uk, nurses.co.uk)