Trust leaders are ‘desperate’ for an end to NHS strikes as senior medics say they face an ‘eternal’ winter crisis with unacceptable standards of care.
The latest action by Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members across England will end at midnight on Monday, with more than half a million procedures and appointments already on hold after months of union action.
Hospital leaders said the effects of the strikes could continue for a year and would inevitably add 7.2 million people to the waiting list.
The warning came after RCN chief executive Pat Cullen said nurses would be re-elected this month ahead of further union action in the coming months as a wage dispute between health unions and the government continues. Nurses make up a quarter of the NHS workforce and make up the bulk of the healthcare workforce.
Miss Cullen said:[The dispute] will end when our government does what is fair for nurses, does what is fair for the people of England, and actually does what is fair for the NHS. Until he does, our nurses will remain on the pickets, losing pay and making sure their voices are heard for their patients.
When asked during a picket outside University College Hospital in London how long treatment delays could accumulate after the strike began, Ms Cullen said. I: “In the six months since we received our first union mandate, the medical staff have been on strike for six days, six days of strike, which were 12 hour days. It wasn’t the six 12-hour days that created over 7 million waiting lists for our patients.
“The backlog is growing every day because we don’t have 47,000 nurses, these vacancies are taking a big toll on the NHS, taking a big toll on our medical staff – they can’t provide the care and treatment that they are highly qualified. provide, and this has a serious impact on their own health and well-being with a high incidence rate, and therefore the Secretary of State must focus and correct this.
Nick Hulme, chief executive of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said Colchester Hospital’s intensive care unit capacity had been “significantly reduced” as it failed to provide enough medical staff during the current strike.
“We got an exemption from the RCN, so we were allowed to … ask nurses to cover this area – not with the staffing we would normally have, but with a safe staffing level,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the nurses decided it was entirely within their right – they didn’t need to show up even if we asked for the RCN – and unfortunately we weren’t able to recruit enough nurses to serve ICUs so we had to be greatly reduced, increased capacity and transferred patients.
Unlike previous strikes, the RCN said there would be no nationwide exemptions for workers in the latest series of strikes during their six-month mandate. The union said it would consider exceptions on a case-by-case basis, and as of Monday afternoon, there were 66 services in 25 trusts with “security-critical strike restrictions.”
Dr. Tim Cooksley, President of the Society for Emergency Medicine, said: I“The NHS remains under tremendous pressure, and while many patients continue to receive good care, this pressure is leading to unacceptable standards of care that are increasingly being recognized as harmful to some patients. High absenteeism, burnout and low morale have dominated the talent landscape of late and continue to do so.
“The current trend in performance and experience data means we are on track for a tougher winter for staff and patients than 2022. This is a frightening development. We must not wait until the middle of winter with a chaotic and dangerous situation to recognize a new crisis, and we must also recognize that it is eternal winter.”
Dr. Cooksley said any further action could still affect emergency care and planned recovery plans, including cancer treatment, but staffing issues remain a major source of pressure on the NHS. England has a record 120,000 jobs in the health care field – almost 1 in 10 vacancies.
“The NHS workforce plan needs to be released urgently and be comprehensive in its ambition to shed light on peers at the end of the tunnel and give patients the confidence that the service is delivering the standards they want and deserve,” the doctor said. Cooksley.
“Expansion of capacities is urgently needed. We are heading into even tougher times in the NHS, but it is still possible to change course, although action is needed now.
As part of the NHS Staff Council meeting on Tuesday, the 12 unions involved in the dispute will consider a government proposal for a 5% pay rise for 2023-24, as well as a lump sum payment of between £1,655 and £3,789. for the current reporting year for nurses in England. RCN, along with Unite and the Society of Radiologists, opposed the deal, but Unison, GMB and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists are among those whose members support the deal.
Health Minister Steve Barclay said he was “cautiously optimistic” that the council would support the deal and called the RCN’s decision to strike ahead of the meeting “premature”.
He said: “I consider it disrespectful to other unions. I think RCN should have waited. They are members of the works council. They were part of the negotiations.”
Saffron Corderi, deputy director of NHS Providers representing trusts, said: “This is the sixth month of strikes in the NHS. As a result, more than half a million procedures and agreements have already been postponed.
“This latest, extremely difficult union action will have a lasting impact on the strained relationship of trust and employees who are working tirelessly to shorten waiting lists and provide safe, quality patient care as quickly as possible.
“This cannot continue. We understand why nurses and other NHS workers are electing again, but while we wait for the decision of the NHS Staff Council on the government’s salary proposal, trust leaders are desperate for an agreement that ends the strikes and gives the NHS the ability to continue to take care of removing leftovers that would otherwise would only get worse.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the strikes had taken a “heavy toll” on services and urged unions to pass a wage deal.
“I think we now feel that, given that the majority of employees voted for this deal, it is time to take it, the unions should work together, and that we think in the long term about what we need to do to solve the problems. this crisis is 120,000 health care jobs,” he said.
“Of course, we would prefer that these strikes did not take place. They come after six months of incessant union action that has taken a heavy toll on the National Health Service.”
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.