Government Stands Firm Over Pay Deal for Nurses

Jane Kirby (PA)

Downing Street has said there are “no plans” to look again at the pay deal for nurses who are staging their biggest ever strike in the history of the NHS.

Number 10 and Health Secretary Steve Barclay stood firm on the issue of pay when questioned by reporters, despite some Tories calling for a rethink.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, also urged the Government to act, saying: “The Government cannot just sit back and let future strikes happen when patient care is on the line.

“The worry is that this is just the start, that strikes possibly being planned for January could be more severe and co-ordinated across the different unions, and that we could be in a position of stalemate for the foreseeable future. This benefits no-one and the Government must act.”

Thousands of nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are taking part in industrial action – involving around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England, all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales.

Health minister Maria Caulfield said around 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries will be lost in England due to the strike. Thousands more will be affected in Northern Ireland and Wales.

Downing Street rejected calls from the former head of the independent pay review body for a possible rethink of the pay award in light of soaring inflation.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Certainly no plans to tell the independent body what to do.”

The idea of looking again at pay has been backed by several Tories, including Dr Dan Poulter, who told the Guardian that “inflation has significantly eroded real-terms pay since the review bodies made their recommendations earlier in the year” and the Government should “improve on the current offer on the table”.

Mr Barclay has repeatedly said the Government is sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review body, which said nurses should get a pay rise of about £1,400.

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

On Thursday, the NHS was running a bank holiday-style service in many areas, though the RCN is staffing chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care, alongside several other services.

Speaking earlier , RCN chief executive Pat Cullen said there is “nothing independent” about the independent pay review body process whose parameters are “set by Government”, as she suggested future strikes are likely.

She told PA: “I woke up this morning very, very early and felt heartbroken as a nurse.

“First of all, tragic that I have to lead the profession on to the picket lines to have their voice heard, and I think that is a serious indictment of this Government.

“It’s tragic for nursing, it’s tragic for patients and it’s tragic for the NHS that the Government feels that they can sit in their offices today and keep our nurses out in the cold.”

She said patients across the NHS deserve the best possible care “that they cannot get because of 50,000 vacant nursing posts”.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on the picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital in London as nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take industrial action over pay (Photo by PA)