Home » Wales’s nurses back strike action over pay and patient safety
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Wales’s nurses back strike action over pay and patient safety

IN a momentous result, RCN members in bar one of Wales’s health boards have voted to take strike action.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) confirmed the results on Wednesday afternoon (November 9). The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) confirmed the results on Wednesday afternoon (November 9). 

Nursing staff at the overwhelming majority of NHS employers in Wales voted to take strike action over pay levels and patient safety concerns. 

Strike action will now take place in the NHS trusts or health boards that have met the relevant legal requirements. 

The strike includes the largest hospital in Wales: University Hospital Wales in Cardiff. RCN staff in the Hywel Dda UHB area will also participate in strike action.

RCN FIGHTS FOR FAIR PAY AND SAFE CARE

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In a statement issued after the announcement, the RCN said the outcome demonstrated its members backed the “next steps for our fight for fair pay and safe care for patients.” 

 RCN Wales confirmed the first period of industrial action can be expected in December. The RCN’s mandate to organise strikes runs until early May 2023, six months after the ballot.

It is the first statutory ballot on industrial action across the UK in the 106-year Royal College of Nursing’s history.  

RCN Wales remains in a pay dispute with Welsh Government since October 2021 over its 3% pay award for NHS Wales nursing staff. 

 Helen Whyley, Director, RCN Wales, said: “Today is a historic day for the nursing profession, our patients, and the future of nursing but ultimately one born of desperation. The decision to strike has not been taken lightly and has passed to demand change where no other solution has been possible.

“Our members have spoken on what is an incredibly difficult decision both professionally and personally. The result of this ballot shows just how much nursing staff put the safety of their patients above all else.  

“Over the last few weeks of our campaign, I have been overwhelmed by the support our members and the public have shown.  

“I have visited hospitals and workplaces throughout Wales. I have heard first-hand of nurses struggling to pay their household bills, the extra hours they have worked for free to subsidise the NHS, and the shifts they have gone without any breaks. They have told me of their constant worry and despair for the safety of their patients due to short staffing.  

“There is currently no escape for staff, worry and guilt for their patients at work, worry and guilt for their families at home. This is not sustainable. Many have told me they cannot continue in their beloved profession without change. 

“The message is loud and clear. Enough is enough. It is time to take decisive action against a spiralling workforce crisis that is putting patients’ lives in danger and has no regard for nursing staff wellbeing.” 

NURSES FIGHT A DECADE OF

REAL-TERMS PAY CUTS

Richard Jones, RCN Wales Board Chair, said: “I want to say a huge thank you to each and every member who not only voted in this ballot but who championed our campaign to ensure as many members voted as possible.  

“Every nurse wants to deliver the highest quality patient care in a lifelong career whilst being able to support themselves and their families.   

“Our members’ decisions are paramount in everything we do, so now we will deliver. We will do everything in our power in the next steps for the fight for fair pay and safe staffing levels which nursing staff so desperately deserve.” 

The RCN says poor pay is a key contributing factor to acute staff shortages affecting patient safety. 

As the Herald reported recently, experienced nurses in Wales have seen their pay decline by at least 20% in real terms. The RCN says fair pay is essential to retain existing and recruit new nursing staff in the safety-critical roles they do. It calls for a pay rise of 5% above inflation (measured by RPI) to start making up for a decade of real-terms pay cuts. 

There are currently 3,000 vacancies in Wales, up from 1,719 last year. Nurses give the NHS in Wales an additional 67,780 hours a week every week. This is the equivalent of 1,807 nurses. 

In 2021/22, NHS Wales spent £133.4 million on agency nursing, an increase of 41% from the previous year. This would pay for the salaries of 4,930 newly qualified nurses. 

WELSH GOVERNMENT’S “DISGRACEFUL” APPROACH

In a letter to Wales’s Health Minister, Eluned Morgan, RCN Wales said it is ready and waiting to open discussions as soon as the Welsh Government wants to make a genuine commitment to improving the current NHS Wales pay award.  

The RCN added strike action will be carried out legally and safely at all times. It will announce detailed plans and timelines for strike action soon.

Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: “It is highly regrettable that nurses have decided to go on strike, with all the implications for patients who depend on NHS services. However, let there be no doubt: nursing pay and conditions are the responsibility of the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay.

“This will only compound the problems facing the UK’s worst-run NHS.

“I stress that we cannot make the NHS permanently dependent on agency nurses. But that is already the case in Wales, with nurse vacancies going up by a thousand in the last year and £134m spent on agency workers.

“I hope the Minister finally engages with the Royal College of Nursing to bring this dispute to an end as swiftly as possible. It is disgraceful that she has avoided doing this so far to the detriment of patients and staff across Wales.”

Plaid Cymru’s spokesperson for health and care, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, said: “Plaid Cymru is on the side of all workers fighting for fair pay and safe working conditions. We can’t expect the kind of ongoing commitment that nurses give to their work and patients without ensuring they’re properly and fairly rewarded.

“No one wants industrial action if there was any other option – and that includes the nurses, more than anyone. But the fact the ballot took place in the first place indicates the strength of feeling. Plaid Cymru stands with the RCN and their members as they fight for the pay, working conditions and recognition they deserve.”

Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We recognise why so many nurses voted the way they did, and we agree nurses should be fairly rewarded for their important work.

“We also recognise the anger and disappointment many public sector workers are feeling at the moment. There are, however, limits to how far we can go to address these concerns in Wales without additional funding from the UK Government.

“Following the ballot result, we will work with NHS organisations and health boards on their contingency plans. 

“The public should be assured that arrangements will be made with RCN Wales to ensure there will always be a safe level of staffing, with life-saving and life-maintaining care being provided during any industrial action.”

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