Nurses have continued strike action for a second day running on Thursday, affecting around a quarter of England’s hospital trusts as the dispute over pay and conditions continues.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) called its first ever national strike action in December, suggesting salaries had fallen some 20% in real terms since 2010.
Strikes could continue into February if a deal is not made, with action announced for Monday 6 and Tuesday 7 among 73 NHS trusts from England and Wales.
Pat Cullen, RCN boss, said: “We are doing this in a desperate bid to get him [Rishi Sunak] and ministers to rescue the NHS.
“The only credible solution is to address the tens of thousands of unfilled jobs – patient care is suffering like never before.”
According to the RCN, low pay is directly responsible for a record number of vacancies across the NHS.
There were 47,000 unfilled nursing roles as of mid-November, while the number of people waiting for treatment exceeded 7mln.
"Of course, we want to do everything possible in order to make sure that people are paid well and in accordance with their skills,” said levelling up minister Michael Gove discussing the dispute on Thursday.
"But we also have to balance that against the need to make sure public funds are spent wisely,” he added, repeating government sentiment that a new offer is unlikely.
“With just as many nursing staff ready to head into the cold again tomorrow morning, the Prime Minister must ask himself why and understand that only he can set the NHS on a better path,” Pat Cullen added ahead of Thursday’s walkouts.
Industrial disputes have seen the UK lose 1.6mln working days last year, costing an estimated £6.6bn since the summer.
Strikes timetable:
- Train drivers on 1 and 3 February
- Ambulance workers on Monday 23 and physiotherapists on the 26
- Court staff on Saturday 21 January and then a week later on the 28
- Teachers through from January 16 to 20, followed by further strikes on 30 to 3 February
- Civil servants on February 1