Thousands of nurses in England resume strike action today

Nurses from more than 55 NHS trusts will strike today and tomorrow

Author: Ellis Maddison & Chris MaskeryPublished 18th Jan 2023

Tens of thousands of nurses across the country will head to the picket lines today to continue striking over pay and working conditions.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) went out on strike for the first time in history last month.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has also announced that two more, bigger strikes will be held next month in England and Wales on February 6 and February 7.

Strike action and winter pressures leave NHS in ‘vicious cycle’, leader warns

Continued strike action plus winter pressures are jeopardising the ability of the NHS to break out of a “vicious cycle”, a health leader has said.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, urged ministers to renew pay talks with trade unions in a bid to halt further industrial action.

He suggested waiting lists are likely to remain stubbornly high unless the Government gives the “NHS a fighting chance”.

In comments shared exclusively with the PA news agency, Mr Taylor said the NHS is trapped in a vicious cycle brought about by extreme pressures in emergency care, ongoing high levels of flu, Covid and respiratory infections, plus industrial action.

He said: “We’re now in the sixth week since strike action began and appear no closer to a solution.

“At the same time, the NHS continues to grapple with extreme pressure on its emergency care services and it is having to reschedule operations and outpatient appointments due to the strikes.

“We’ve been saying for weeks that the strike action couldn’t have come at a more difficult time for the NHS, but we hoped a compromise would be reached by now to bring an end to the impasse.

“All the while this continues, the NHS won’t be able to break out of the vicious cycle it’s in.

“Ahead of the next round of strikes, our message to the Government is to give the NHS a fighting chance and do all you can to bring an end to this damaging dispute.

“The Prime Minister must not allow the stand-off in the wider public sector to hold back a deal being reached in the NHS.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “Patients will understandably be worried by the prospect of further strike action by nurses – the previous two days of nurse strikes saw around 30,000 elective procedures and outpatient appointments cancelled.

“It is inevitable industrial action will have an impact on patients.

“I have had constructive talks with the Royal College of Nursing and other unions about the 2023/24 pay process and look forward to continuing that dialogue.”

The full breakdown of where nurses will be striking:

East Midlands

NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB (Joined Up Care Derbyshire)

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust

Eastern

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Mid and South Essex ICB

NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB

London

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

NHS South West London ICB

North West

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Northern

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

North of England CSU (NECS)

South East

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Kent and Medway ICB

NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Solent NHS Trust

South West

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

NHS Dorset ICB (Our Dorset)

West Midlands

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust

NHS Black Country ICB

Midlands and Lancashire CSU

Yorkshire & Humber

Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Sheffield Childrens NHS Foundation Trust

NHS West Yorkshire ICB

National employers

NHS Resolution

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)

'Patient care is suffering like never before'

RCN chief executive Pat Cullen said on Monday: "It is with a heavy heart that nursing staff are striking this week and again in three weeks. Rather than negotiate, (Prime Minister) Rishi Sunak has chosen strike action again.

"We are doing this in a desperate bid to get him and ministers to rescue the NHS.

The RCN has about 300,000 members - roughly two-thirds of NHS nurses

"The only credible solution is to address the tens of thousands of unfilled jobs - patient care is suffering like never before.

"My olive branch to Government - asking them to meet me halfway and begin negotiations - is still there. They should grab it."

The RCN has been calling for a pay rise at 5% above inflation, though it has said it will accept a lower offer.

Inflation was running at 7.5% when it submitted the 5% figure to the independent pay review body in March - But inflation has since soared, with RPI standing at 14.2% in September.

On Monday, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Obviously we would continue to urge unions to step back from strike action, which will have an impact on patient care.

"We know in the first round of strikes 11,000 appointments were cancelled. So it's inevitable that this, on a larger scale, will have a larger impact and that is hugely regrettable at a time when the health service is under significant pressure.

"We feel like there have been constructive talks with the unions and we'd want those to continue rather than taking to the picket lines."

NHS England said patients should use services "wisely" by going to NHS 111 online but continuing to call 999 in a life-threatening emergency.

You can hear the latest news on Kerrang! Radio.