Thousands of nurses are going on strike for the first time across England, Wales and Northern Ireland today.

Picket lines are being set up at dozens of hospitals in a dispute over pay, with the Welsh Government warning services will be “significantly impacted”.

Thousands of NHS appointments and operations have been cancelled as a result of the strike, with the health service running a bank holiday-style service in many areas.

Around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England are taking part in the strike, alongside all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said it will still staff chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care.

Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain this morning, Dr Hilary Jones explained how the nursing strike will impact you.

 

He said: “I think for patients, they can be reassured that emergency services will continue.

“So, for things that are life threatening emergencies, like cardiac arrests, heart attacks and strokes, emergency services will be there.

“However, other things will be postponed, cancelled or delayed. This will have a knock-on effect.

“There will be some cancer services that will be postponed. The RCN have made it pretty clear that people who need emergency cancer operations and services will get it, but other people will be asked to wait and will have to wait.

“There won’t be enough nurses running the wards so things that are not life threatening, people are going to have to wait.

“I think it is going to require common sense from people. Do not do things that are unnecessarily risky.

“Nurses do not want to take away services from people, but they are at the end of their tether, struggling to pay their bills, and they deserve more.”

RCN chief executive Pat Cullen has accused Health Secretary Steve Barclay of “belligerence” after he refused to discuss the issue of pay.

He 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 around £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.

When it submitted the 5% figure to the independent pay review body in March, inflation was running at 7.5%.

But inflation has since soared, with RPI standing at 14.2% in September.

Mr Barclay said nurses were “incredibly dedicated to their job” and “it is deeply regrettable some union members are going ahead with strike action”.

He added: “My number one priority is to keep patients safe – 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.

“Nevertheless, the NHS is open and patients should continue to seek urgent medical care – and attend appointments – unless they’ve been contacted by the NHS.”

He said paying nurses more “would mean taking money away from frontline services at a time when we are tackling record waiting lists as a result of the pandemic.”