Tens of thousands of nurses have gone on strike today which is the largest strike in the history of the NHS.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief executive Pat Cullen accused the Health Secretary Steve Barclay of “belligerence” as he refused to meet to discuss pay issues.
The government will not budge over the recommendations of the independent pay review body that nurses should only receive £1,400.
The RCN hit back and are demanding a pay rise at 5% above inflation and then Cullen said on Thursday there is “nothing independent” about the independent pay review body process.
She told BBC Breakfast, “This is a tragic day for nurses, a tragic day for patients… and it’s a tragic day for the people of society and for our NHS.
“And it’s tragic that this Government has decided not to speak to us, talk to us, get into a room on the first day of strikes, and that’s why we’re here today.”
Our members are striking for patients, for the future of the NHS, and for their profession.
Let your followers know you support them by adding a twibbon to your profile: https://t.co/EgkIB8oszh#RCNStrike #FairPayForNursing
— The RCN (@theRCN) December 15, 2022
She said that “hundreds of nurses” are leaving the profession daily and that they are asking for the “20% that has been eroded from our nurses’ pay over the last decade to be put back.”
She added that Barclay told her she could talk about “anything but pay, that’s going to resolve nothing. What it is going to do is to continue with days like this.”
Health minister Maria Caulfield warned that around 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries will be lost due to the strike in England, and thousands more will be affected in Northern Ireland and Wales.
She told Sky News, “Cancer surgeries are going to be closed in those 44 trusts in England. We reckon it’s about 70,000 appointments, procedures, surgeries that will be lost.”
Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, told the PA news agency NHS trusts were “pulling out all the stops.”
She added, “The cold snap has ramped up demand that was already at or close to record levels, but on strike day NHS trusts will do everything they can to ensure that essential services are properly staffed and patient safety, always the number one priority, is safeguarded.”
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