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Biggest strike in 75-year history of NHS
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Government urges workers to call off walkouts
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Unite union calls for prime minister to hold pay talks
(Adds quotes from nurses)
By Sachin Ravikumar and Natalie Thomas
LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of nurses
and ambulance service staff walked off the job on Monday in a
pay dispute, putting further strain on Britain's state-run
National Health Service with their largest ever strike.
Nurses and ambulance workers have been striking separately
since late last year but Monday's walkout involving both,
largely in England, is the biggest in the 75-year history of the
NHS.
Nurses will also walk out on Tuesday, ambulance staff on
Friday, and physiotherapists Thursday, making the week probably
the most disruptive in NHS history, its Medical Director Stephen
Powis said.
Health workers are demanding a pay rise that reflects the
worst inflation in Britain in four decades. The government says
that would be unaffordable and only cause more price rises,
making interest rates and mortgage payments rise further.
"The government needs to listen and discuss pay rather than
just saying the NHS doesn’t have money," said nurse Ethna
Vaughan, who was part of a demonstration outside St. Thomas'
Hospital in central London.
"We cannot survive with what we’re being paid."
Around 500,000 workers, many from the public sector, have
been staging strikes since last summer, adding to pressure on
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to resolve the disputes and limit
disruption to public services such as railways and schools.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) trade union wrote to
Sunak over the weekend asking him to bring the nursing strike
"to a swift close" by making "meaningful" pay offers.
A spokesperson for Sunak said on Monday there were no plans
for the prime minister to get involved in the talks, adding:
"We want to keep discussing how we can find a path forward with
the unions."
"We've got one of the busiest winters we have ever had with
record levels of funding going into the NHS to try and manage
services," Maria Caulfield, the minister for mental health and
women's health strategy, told Sky News on Monday.
"So every percent of a pay increase takes money away."
'BLEAK FUTURE'
The NHS, a source of pride for most Britons, is under
extreme pressure with millions of patients on waiting lists for
operations and thousands each month failing to receive prompt
emergency care.
The RCN says a decade of poor pay has contributed to tens of
thousands of nurses leaving the profession - 25,000 over just
the last year - with the severe staffing shortages impacting
patient care.
"We've got to look at the future, and that's what this is
all about ... it looks like a very bleak future," said nurse
Rebecca Cosgrave, also at the demonstration St. Thomas'
Hospital.
"A lot of people have left the profession already because
they're so disillusioned," she said, while also describing how
poor pay was making it harder to recruit more nurses.
The RCN initially asked for a pay rise of 5% above inflation
and has since said it could meet the government "half way", but
both sides have failed to reach agreement despite weeks of
talks.
Meanwhile, thousands of ambulance workers represented by the
GMB and Unite trade unions are set to strike on Monday in their
own pay dispute. Both unions have announced several more days of
industrial action.
Not all ambulance workers will strike at once and emergency
calls will be attended to.
In Wales, nurses and some ambulance workers have called off
strikes planned for Monday as they review pay offers from the
Welsh government.
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INSIGHT-In a health system in crisis, Britain's heart care
suffers ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; additional reporting by
Elizabeth Piper and Sarah Young; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
