RCN nurses to strike on May bank holiday in England as pay offer rejected
News / Sat 15th Apr 2023 at 06:36am
NURSES in the Royal College of Nursing union have rejected the government’s pay offer in England and will now go on strike over the first May bank holiday reports the BBC.
The 48-hour walkout from 20:00 BST on 30 April to 20:00 on 2 May will involve NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, cancer and other wards.
This will be “hugely concerning” for patients, the government says.
Members of the Unison union – which includes some nurses and ambulance crews – have accepted the pay offer.
The award on the table is a 5% pay rise for 2023-24.
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They should be ashamed
There is absolutely nothing wrong for standing up for pay and the future of our NHS. Nurses make a difference.
Remember that Conservative governments since 2010 have undermined nurses pay with below inflation rises. A TUC study from June last year showed nurses real terms pay had been cut by £5,200 since 2010 due to well below inflation pay settlements. Also, staff retention is poor with 46,828 registered nurse unfilled vacancies as of end of June 2022. That figure is 11.8 percent of registered nurse complement. This translates to poorer care and increased mortality. An article in the British Medical Journal published September 2022 stated: "for the average team, an extra 12-hour shift from a Registered Nurse would reduce the odds of experiencing a patient death by around 9.6 percent." So, poor pay for nurses means less nurses and poorer care. Solution is pay nurses a decent wage. See BMJ article https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/early/2022/10/11/bmjqs-2022-015291
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