LONDON: National Health Service nurses in Britain will strike on Thursday (Dec 15) in their first-ever national walkout, as a bitter dispute with the government over pay ramps up pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of the year.
An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centres on Thursday, cancelling thousands of non-urgent operations, such as hip replacements, and tens of thousands of outpatient appointments in Britain’s state-funded NHS.
Britain is facing a wave of industrial action this winter, with strikes crippling the rail network and postal service, and airports bracing for disruption over Christmas.
Inflation running at more than 10 per cent, trailed by pay offers of around 4 per cent, is stoking tensions between unions and employers.
Of all the strikes though, it will be the sight of nurses on picket lines that will be the stand-out image for many Britons this winter.
“It is deeply regrettable some union members are going ahead with strike action,” health minister Steve Barclay said.
“I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels – but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients.”
The widely admired nursing profession will shut down parts of the NHS, which since its founding in 1948 has developed national treasure status for being free at the point of use, hitting healthcare provision when it is already stretched in winter and with backlogs at record levels due to COVID-19 delays.
Barclay said patients should continue to seek urgent medical care and attend appointments unless they have been told not to.
The industrial action by nurses on Dec 15 and Dec 20 is unprecedented in the British nursing union’s 106-year history, but the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says it has no choice as workers struggle to make ends meet.
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