NHS STRIKES
Nurses’ union suggests Government meet it halfway on 19% pay rise demand
Ben Hatton
Fri, 6 January 2023
Nurses’ union suggests Government meet it halfway on 19% pay rise demand
The Royal College of Nursing could be willing to accept a 10% pay rise, with the union’s leader calling on the Government to meet it “halfway”.
The general secretary of the Royal College for Nursing (RCN), Pat Cullen, has previously said the union’s demand for a 19% rise, dismissed by the Government as “unaffordable”, is simply a “starting point”, and that she would put any new offer to her members.
It is thought the union could be willing to accept a pay rise of about 10%.
In an interview with Times Radio’s Past Imperfect podcast, reported by The Times, Ms Cullen said: “There is a rhetoric out there that says the Royal College of Nursing is unrealistic, it’s looking for something that’s totally unachievable, it’s looking for 19%.
“Now, I could sit here all day and tell you nurses’ pay has dropped by 20% over the last decade.
“Do I believe those nurses are entitled (to 19%)?
“Absolutely, I believe they’re entitled to 19%.
“But we also understand the economic climate that we’re working in.
“And what I would say to (Health Secretary) Steve Barclay and to the Prime Minister is get into a room and meet me halfway here and do the decent thing for these nurses.”
Thousands of nurses walked out on December 15 and 20, and the RCN has said its members will strike again on January 18 and 19 unless negotiations are opened.
The planned action would take place at more NHS employers in England than the previous strikes, increasing from 44 to 55 trusts, according to the RCN.
The union has also warned that strike action could continue over the next six months unless an agreement can be reached.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The Health and Social Care Secretary wants to have an honest conversation with the RCN about what is affordable in pay settlements for next year during these challenging times, and is keen to meet for discussions as soon as possible.
“We have accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full and have given over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year. This is on top of a 3% pay increase last year when public sector pay was frozen and wider Government support with the cost of living.”
Junior doctors set to go on three-day strike in March if industrial action approved
Fri, 6 January 2023
Junior doctors will go on strike for the second time ever in March - if they vote for industrial action in a ballot beginning next week.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has today set the potential strike action for March ahead of a ballot starting on Monday.
Junior doctors - any doctor below consultant level - in England will walk out for 72 hours and will not provide emergency NHS care during the strike, the BMA said. It added that trusts will need to arrange emergency cover to ensure patient safety.
It is not yet clear whether the strike will go ahead, but it is understood the threshold of 50% of those balloted to strike is likely to be met.
If the strike goes ahead, it will be the second time junior doctors have walked out over pay and conditions.
The first-ever strikes happened in 2016, when Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was health secretary.
Junior doctors are calling for better pay after they were excluded from an NHS pay rise this year because their contract is subject to a multi-year pay deal that gives them a 2% rise for 2022/2023.
They have also said junior doctors in England have seen a real-terms pay cut over the past 15 years, which amounts to a 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/9.
And the BMA says the risk to patients caused by the low pay means it has been left with no option but to ballot junior doctors for strike action.
The BMA has urged Health Secretary Steve Barclay to sit down with doctors to negotiate to avoid industrial action.
Both Rishi Sunak and Mr Barclay have said their doors are open for unions to talk with them and the prime minister said all unions have been invited to sit down with them on Monday.
But the BMA says Mr Barclay is "the first health secretary for over 50 years to continue to ignore all invitations" to meet with doctors.
Read more: Who is striking and when this month?
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMS junior doctors committee, said: "When we are faced with such resolute ongoing silence, and there is no agreed settlement on the table, then we are left with no choice but to act.
"Junior doctors are not worth a quarter less than they were 15 years ago nor do they deserve to be valued so little by their own government.
"Pay erosion, exhaustion and despair are forcing junior doctors out of the NHS, pushing waiting lists even higher as patients suffer needlessly.
"The government's refusal to address 15 years of pay erosion has given junior doctors no choice but to ballot for industrial action.
"If the government won't fight for our health service, then we will."
Ambulance workers, auxiliary NHS staff and nurses all went on strike in December over pay and conditions.
Nurses are set to go on strike again on 18 and 19 January, but that could be avoided after the Royal College of Nursing indicated on Thursday it would accept a pay rise of around 10%, instead of 19%, to end its ongoing dispute.
Ben Hatton
Fri, 6 January 2023
Nurses’ union suggests Government meet it halfway on 19% pay rise demand
The Royal College of Nursing could be willing to accept a 10% pay rise, with the union’s leader calling on the Government to meet it “halfway”.
The general secretary of the Royal College for Nursing (RCN), Pat Cullen, has previously said the union’s demand for a 19% rise, dismissed by the Government as “unaffordable”, is simply a “starting point”, and that she would put any new offer to her members.
It is thought the union could be willing to accept a pay rise of about 10%.
In an interview with Times Radio’s Past Imperfect podcast, reported by The Times, Ms Cullen said: “There is a rhetoric out there that says the Royal College of Nursing is unrealistic, it’s looking for something that’s totally unachievable, it’s looking for 19%.
“Now, I could sit here all day and tell you nurses’ pay has dropped by 20% over the last decade.
“Do I believe those nurses are entitled (to 19%)?
“Absolutely, I believe they’re entitled to 19%.
“But we also understand the economic climate that we’re working in.
“And what I would say to (Health Secretary) Steve Barclay and to the Prime Minister is get into a room and meet me halfway here and do the decent thing for these nurses.”
Thousands of nurses walked out on December 15 and 20, and the RCN has said its members will strike again on January 18 and 19 unless negotiations are opened.
The planned action would take place at more NHS employers in England than the previous strikes, increasing from 44 to 55 trusts, according to the RCN.
The union has also warned that strike action could continue over the next six months unless an agreement can be reached.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The Health and Social Care Secretary wants to have an honest conversation with the RCN about what is affordable in pay settlements for next year during these challenging times, and is keen to meet for discussions as soon as possible.
“We have accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full and have given over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year. This is on top of a 3% pay increase last year when public sector pay was frozen and wider Government support with the cost of living.”
Junior doctors set to go on three-day strike in March if industrial action approved
Fri, 6 January 2023
Junior doctors will go on strike for the second time ever in March - if they vote for industrial action in a ballot beginning next week.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has today set the potential strike action for March ahead of a ballot starting on Monday.
Junior doctors - any doctor below consultant level - in England will walk out for 72 hours and will not provide emergency NHS care during the strike, the BMA said. It added that trusts will need to arrange emergency cover to ensure patient safety.
It is not yet clear whether the strike will go ahead, but it is understood the threshold of 50% of those balloted to strike is likely to be met.
If the strike goes ahead, it will be the second time junior doctors have walked out over pay and conditions.
The first-ever strikes happened in 2016, when Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was health secretary.
Junior doctors are calling for better pay after they were excluded from an NHS pay rise this year because their contract is subject to a multi-year pay deal that gives them a 2% rise for 2022/2023.
They have also said junior doctors in England have seen a real-terms pay cut over the past 15 years, which amounts to a 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/9.
And the BMA says the risk to patients caused by the low pay means it has been left with no option but to ballot junior doctors for strike action.
The BMA has urged Health Secretary Steve Barclay to sit down with doctors to negotiate to avoid industrial action.
Both Rishi Sunak and Mr Barclay have said their doors are open for unions to talk with them and the prime minister said all unions have been invited to sit down with them on Monday.
But the BMA says Mr Barclay is "the first health secretary for over 50 years to continue to ignore all invitations" to meet with doctors.
Read more: Who is striking and when this month?
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairs of the BMS junior doctors committee, said: "When we are faced with such resolute ongoing silence, and there is no agreed settlement on the table, then we are left with no choice but to act.
"Junior doctors are not worth a quarter less than they were 15 years ago nor do they deserve to be valued so little by their own government.
"Pay erosion, exhaustion and despair are forcing junior doctors out of the NHS, pushing waiting lists even higher as patients suffer needlessly.
"The government's refusal to address 15 years of pay erosion has given junior doctors no choice but to ballot for industrial action.
"If the government won't fight for our health service, then we will."
Ambulance workers, auxiliary NHS staff and nurses all went on strike in December over pay and conditions.
Nurses are set to go on strike again on 18 and 19 January, but that could be avoided after the Royal College of Nursing indicated on Thursday it would accept a pay rise of around 10%, instead of 19%, to end its ongoing dispute.
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