Nurses’ strikes could continue till Christmas, warns RCN union leader

Nurses will not pause a 48-hour strike in England over the first May bank holiday, says the Royal College of Nursing – and it warns action could continue until Christmas

Leader Pat Cullen told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg the government needed to put more money on the table.

But she had “no plans” to co-ordinate strikes with those by junior doctors.

Conservative party chairman Greg Hands said the government’s pay offer was “fair and reasonable”.

Asked whether it is was a final offer, he said the government needed to wait to see what other heath service unions involved in the pay dispute decided in their own ballots – and pointed out that it has already been accepted by members of Unison.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said he was “really worried” about the strike action by nurses and he was not in support of it because of the risks to patients’ safety.

The strike will involve NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, cancer and other wards, which would be a first as the previous nurses’ strike in February included exemptions to maintain staffing in critical areas.

It was called after RCN members voted by 54% to 46% to reject the government’s offer of a 5% rise in 2023/24 and a one-payment of at least £1,655.

Ms Cullen said that after the walkout from 20:00 BST on 30 April to 20:00 on 2 May, the union would “move immediately to ballot our members” on their next move.

“If that ballot is successful it will mean further strike action right up until Christmas,” she added.

Ms Cullen rejected calls from ministers to pause strike action, revealing she had received a letter from Health Secretary Steve Barclay requesting that just half-an-hour before she came on air.

She said the letter was “disrespectful” to nurses and and claimed the health secretary had spent longer writing in the Sun on Sunday newspaper than responding to nurses.

In the paper, Mr Barclay warned that the strikes would mean more cancelled operations and postponed treatment – and “none of this is good for the NHS or patients”.

Ms Cullen urged the health secretary and the government to join her union at the negotiating table “very quickly”, adding: “And start to put more money on the table, start treat nurses with a bit of decency and a bit of respect.”