The Royal College of Nursing, which has not ruled out the possibility of further strikes, says the king’s speech is the “last chance” to resolve the NHS staffing crisis before the next election.
said Professor Nicola Ranger, the union’s chief medical officer I Speaking on the eve of the opening of State Parliament, he said the problems that led nurses to vote to strike a year ago and triggered a cascade of strikes in the health sector had not yet been resolved.
Despite narrowly avoiding a second round of industrial action earlier this year, the RCN’s main point of contention with the government remains worker safety, with council leadership not ruling out a return to the picket line. Further strikes will not take place until 2024, but could resume ahead of the next general election.
Asked whether the NHS was in a better position than a year ago when nurses were preparing to go on strike in hospitals in England, Professor Ranger said: “Unfortunately not. Sure, there was a slight increase, but it’s clearly not what we think our members deserve. And there certainly isn’t enough money to change the process of recruiting and retaining employees.”
After the RCN and other health unions began collective bargaining this summer, the government negotiated a collective agreement. One million NHS staff, including nurses and paramedics, received a 5% pay rise worth at least £1,065 for full-time workers, as well as two one-off payments worth at least £1,655. Although RCN members rejected the proposal, the majority of health unions supported it and the agreement was accepted by the NHS Staff Council.
The college called on its members to support a new six-month round of strikes, but votes fell short of the legally required 50 percent threshold. Some 84 percent of the 122,008 RCN members who voted in favor of industrial action were in favor of industrial action.
“The main challenge for staff is safe staffing and unfortunately the situation is not improving,” Professor Ranger said, noting that there appears to be considerable dissatisfaction among nurses ahead of next year’s general election.
“We’ve asked the government about the key things we want to work on in terms of staff safety, so we’ll wait and see what happens. But I think that nurses, especially in winter, are not stupid.
“They are still under pressure and worried about their jobs. So that’s it [industrial action] Is it completely over? Unfortunately no. Let’s value nurses and care, and we’ll see a difference when we can focus on our patients.”
The RCN aims to maximize patient to nurse ratios in all healthcare settings, from emergency departments to community hospitals and mental health units. Will the board prevent a new vote from taking place if it does not take place?
Professor Ranger, chief nursing officer at several NHS sites including King’s College Hospital in London and the University Hospitals of Brighton and Sussex, said: “We are a membership organization and our job as leaders is to listen to our half a million members. They let us know if they still feel that things are not as they should be. Our members will guide us.
“Ultimately we want safe labor levels to be enshrined in law – as in Australia and California – but this may take time. That doesn’t stop us from defining what we think a safe workforce should be and working towards that. Evidence shows that when you start setting safe staffing levels, you make a difference in staff recruitment and retention. You begin to see hope.
“In childcare, you can only look after a certain number of children. Even in a zoo you can only care for a certain number of animals, but in healthcare… I think the public would be shocked if there was no maximum number of patients a nurse should care for.
“In the intensive care unit they know very clearly where: one nurse, one patient. We need the right ratio in every environment. We know that this problem cannot be solved overnight. It took us 10-15 years to get into this mess, and it will take several more years to get out of it. We just need a sense of hope that we are being heard and that there is a way to improve.”
The NHS has been in a crisis cycle for many years due to the huge number of vacancies, which currently stands at 112,000 – almost one in ten of the entire workforce. Officials said a growing and aging population, coupled with new treatments and therapies, could mean the gap could grow to 360,000 people by 2037 without action.
Earlier this year, the government finally published its long-term workforce strategy for NHS England, which sets out how it will recruit an additional 300,000 staff over the next fifteen years. The number of nursing training places will almost double, with 24,000 additional nurse and midwifery training places opening per year. However, financial resources are only intended to expand staff over the next five years.
Professor Ranger said that while the plan provided “sort of a roadmap” for staffing levels, there was “no funding” to make this happen and it did nothing to maintain staffing levels.
“I feel like a lack of real commitment to nursing prevents people from leaving the profession,” she said.
With no major announcements expected on health and social care, Professor Ranger said Tuesday’s King’s Speech would be a “missed opportunity” for the government to make a difference for the NHS. Rishi Sunak is due to call an election at the end of January 2025.
“If nothing is mentioned that gives any meaning to the NHS and social care, the government will be worried about patients and staff – a missed opportunity.” The staff knows.”
Professor Ranger described recent government announcements, including banning trans patients from sex wards and asking NHS bosses to stop hiring diversity and inclusion managers, as a “total distraction” from the issues that matter to staff and patients . Ministers must invest in “improving the culture of the NHS rather than fueling a culture war”, she said.
“Some of our trans patients are our most vulnerable patients. We want everyone to come forward and for the NHS to be there for them, whatever their circumstances or needs. And when it comes to EDI setup [equality, diversity and inclusion] Manager, one in five of our nurses are internationally trained because we have a very poor internal workforce plan.
“So if there are nurses from all cultures and ways of working who want to come together as a team around the patient, how can we do that without investing in inclusion and equity and building one team?
“This has nothing to do with political correctness. They are absolutely essential to ensure that everyone feels safe in the practice and that we build a team around the patient. If you don’t need EDI managers, don’t rely on the fact that one in five nurses come from overseas.”
Rishi Sunak blames striking NHS staff for rising waiting lists that have reached a record 7.7 million in England and criticizes Professor Ranger.
“It’s just more distracting.” I’m old enough to remember a time when emergency room occupancy was 98 percent. [of patients admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours – the 95 per cent target has not been achieved since 2015] and breaking the 12-hour rule was almost a criminal offense.
“We don’t want people to be afraid when they come into hospital and the staff will do their best, but there won’t be a nurse in this country who knows someone who’s gone into hospital and the first thought is ‘I hope they have Everything is fine”.
“That’s always my first instinct. Not because of any criticism of the staff, but because they are under such pressure that this feeling immediately arises. This is not a good place to live.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The NHS employs a record number of nurses, up 17,600 on last year, and we plan to recruit 50,000 more nurses next year.”
“The NHS long-term workforce plan will significantly expand education, training and recruitment domestically and produce more nurses than ever before, almost doubling the number of adult nurse apprenticeships by 2031.”
“By improving culture, leadership and wellbeing, we want 130,000 fewer staff to leave the NHS over the next fifteen years. This includes improving opportunities for potential retirees to continue working in the NHS if they choose; and make it easier for those who have already left to return in a more flexible role.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.