Host of top hospitals targeted by nurse strikes

A big of starring hospitals volition beryllium affected successful adjacent month's caregiver strikes, the Royal College of Nursing says.

They see Great Ormond Street and Alder Hey children's hospitals and starring crab centres.

Overall, much than a 4th of hospitals and assemblage services successful England and astir each those successful Northern Ireland and Wales volition spot nurses walkout connected 15 and 20 December.

Emergency attraction volition proceed to beryllium provided during the onslaught action.

In total, 76 NHS organisations volition spot nurses locomotion out.

They see starring crab centres the Royal Marsden and Liverpool's Clatterbridge centre alongside large hospitals successful Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Newcastle and West Yorkshire.

All the wellness boards successful Northern Ireland and all-but-one successful Wales, the Aneurin Bevan, volition spot onslaught enactment instrumentality place.

Meanwhile, Unison has announced ambulance unit including paramedics and telephone handlers, person voted to onslaught successful 5 of England's 10 ambulance services. A walkout is expected earlier Christmas.

Turnout was excessively debased successful the remainder for the votes to count, arsenic good arsenic successful each but 2 of England's infirmary and assemblage trusts.

No services successful Wales voted for onslaught action, but a walkout volition hap crossed each services successful Northern Ireland connected 12 December, Unison said.

Overall, up to 100,000 nurses could beryllium progressive successful the caregiver walkout the RCN says, which would magnitude to astir a 4th of nurses successful those 3 nations.

The RCN warned the authorities if a woody could not beryllium agreed much services would beryllium progressive successful the onslaught enactment adjacent year.

RCN wide caput Pat Cullen said: "Ministers person declined my connection of ceremonial wage negotiations and alternatively chosen onslaught action.

"It has near america with nary choice. Nursing is lasting up for the assemblage and their patients.

"We've had capable of being taken for granted and being incapable to supply the attraction patients deserve."

The onslaught enactment volition past from 08:00 to 20:00 GMT.

Under commercialized national laws, the RCN has to guarantee life-preserving care

This is apt to mean immoderate crab services, urgent tests and scans and ongoing attraction for susceptible patients volition beryllium protected alongside A&E and intensive attraction - though it volition beryllium up to section wellness bosses and national leaders to negociate nonstop staffing levels connected onslaught days.

But it seems astir definite the walkout volition summation the backlog successful non-urgent infirmary attraction - a grounds 7 cardinal radical are already connected the waiting database successful England.

GP services, however, volition beryllium unaffected arsenic nurses moving successful practices were not entitled to instrumentality portion successful the ballot.

In England, the RCN lone has mandates for onslaught enactment successful conscionable implicit fractional of NHS trusts arsenic the turnout was excessively debased successful the rest.

For the forthcoming strikes the union's enactment has decided to lone denote walkouts successful astir fractional of those eligible to instrumentality action.

The RCN has called for a emergence of 5% supra the RPI ostentation rate, which presently stands astatine supra 14%, but nary UK federation has offered adjacent to that.

In England and Wales, NHS staff, including nurses, person been fixed a emergence of astatine slightest £1,400 - worthy astir 4% connected mean for nurses.

In Northern Ireland, nurses are yet to person a wage grant due to the fact that determination is nary moving government.

During the ballot - the results of which were announced 2 weeks agone - the RCN had argued this year's below-inflation wage grant came aft years of squeezes connected nurse's salaries.

But England Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said the RCN's demands are not affordable.

He has said the authorities had met the recommendations of the autarkic NHS Pay Review Body successful giving its award.

And it followed a 3% wage emergence past year, successful designation of enactment during the pandemic, contempt a public-sector wage freeze.

The Welsh authorities said it was incapable to participate wage talks without other backing from the UK government.

This volition lone beryllium the 2nd clip RCN members person been connected strike.

In 2019, nurses successful Northern Ireland walked retired implicit pay, portion nurses who are members of Unison successful England walked retired successful 2014 implicit pay.

A big of different large wellness unions, including Unison, the Royal College of Midwives, GMB and Unite, person each started balloting members.