London, UK
UK nurses plan to strike for two days consecutively in the new year at dozens of hospitals across England in connection with their pay fallout with the government. On 18 and 19 January 2023, nurses will not report to work in 55 NHS trusts, an increase of 11 from the 44 NHS trusts where they staged their initial strikes on 15 and 20 December 2022.
Following a prior threat by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to step up its strike campaign if ministers didn't budge on pay negotiations, further action has been taken.
âThe government had the opportunity to end this dispute before Christmas but instead they have chosen to push nursing staff out into the cold again in January,â said Pat Cullen, the RCNâs general secretary and chief executive who spoke to the Guardian.
She added: âI do not wish to prolong this dispute but the prime minister has left us with no choice. The voice of nursing will not be ignored. Staff shortages and low pay make patient care unsafe. The sooner ministers come to the negotiating table, the sooner this can be resolved. I will not dig in if they donât dig in.â
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The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has repeatedly emphasised that if the health secretary, Steve Barclay, begins negotiations with them, it will lower its demand for a pay increase of five per cent above inflation. He has declined to take into account raising the salary increase of £1,400 for 2022â2023 offered to NHS employees, with the exception of doctors and dentists, which translates to an increase of around four per cent for the majority of frontline staff.
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After the union stated on Thursday that members in five of England's ten regional ambulance services would stage 24-hour stoppages on January 11 and 23, the union's decision means that the NHS in England would experience disruption for three consecutive weeks in January.
However, the government has toughened its stance on NHS pay this week. Rishi Sunak iterated it was too late to revisit the £1,400 settlement for this year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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