Nurses to strike as ambulance crews plan walkouts

About 10,000 NHS nurses successful England, Wales and Northern Ireland are to onslaught for the 2nd clip successful little than a week successful protestation implicit their pay.

Wednesday volition spot ambulance unit successful England and Wales locomotion retired too, unless a gathering aboriginal with the wellness caput tin avert it.

Steve Barclay has invited 3 unions representing paramedics to talks.

It follows warnings of extended disruption to services astatine a precise challenging clip of twelvemonth for the NHS.

The joint letter was sent retired by wellness chiefs to NHS trusts and integrated attraction boards successful England, urging hospitals to free-up beds by safely discharging patients up of concern enactment by ambulance crews.

Measures should besides beryllium enactment successful spot to marque definite ambulance diligent handovers are kept to nary much than 15 minutes, it advises.

Nurses staged their biggest ever onslaught successful the past of the NHS past week.

Nearly 10,000 unit were absent connected Thursday and 16,000 appointments and surgeries had to beryllium rescheduled successful England alone.

Tuesday's enactment could origin akin disruption, though services specified arsenic urgent crab care, volition continue.

The onslaught involves nurses successful astir a 4th of hospitals and assemblage teams successful England, each wellness boards successful Northern Ireland and each but 1 wellness committee successful Wales. Nurses are not striking successful Scotland.

Protected services see chemotherapy, exigency crab services, dialysis, captious attraction units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care, on with immoderate areas of intelligence wellness and learning disablement and autism services.

The walkout is mostly astir pay.

In England and Wales, astir NHS unit person already received a wage emergence of astir £1,400 this twelvemonth - worthy astir 4%, connected average, for nurses.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) national wants a 19% wage rise- 5% supra the RPI ostentation complaint which presently stands astatine 14% - saying its members person received years of below-inflation wage increases.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the wage connection to nurses is appropriate and fair, contempt unit from wellness leaders and immoderate erstwhile Conservative ministers to rethink.

But RCN wide caput Pat Cullen said helium should inquire himself wherefore nurses were taking "unprecedented" onslaught enactment sacrificing a day's pay, and highlighted worries implicit diligent information and the aboriginal of the NHS.

Calling for talks with Mr Sunak, Ms Cullen said: "Let's get this wrapped up by Christmas.

"I volition negociate with him astatine immoderate constituent to halt nursing unit and patients going into the New Year facing specified uncertainty.

"But if this authorities isn't prepared to bash the close thing, we'll person nary prime but to proceed successful January and that volition beryllium profoundly regrettable," she warned.

The authorities maintains the nurses' demands are unaffordable and the proposal of an autarkic wage reappraisal assemblage successful mounting wages person been followed.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was "disappointing" national members were striking contempt the interaction connected patients.

"The RCN's demands are unaffordable during these challenging times and would instrumentality wealth distant from frontline services portion they are inactive recovering from the interaction of the pandemic," helium said.

He added that helium was "open to engaging with the unions connected however to marque the NHS a amended spot to work".

The RCN has threatened to escalate onslaught enactment if ministers bash not articulation talks wrong 48 hours of Tuesday's walkout.

The enactment by nurses volition beryllium followed connected Wednesday by a onslaught by ambulance staff, erstwhile Unison, GMB and Unite members instrumentality action. GMB national members volition spell connected onslaught again connected 28 December.

Around 1,200 members of the subject are being drafted successful to screen the striking ambulance workers successful a determination unions telephone a "desperate measure". It is expected they volition beryllium handling little superior calls.

All of the astir life-threatening calls, similar cardiac arrest, volition beryllium responded too, but radical who endure trips, falls and different non-life threatening injuries whitethorn not beryllium sent an ambulance.

North East Ambulance Service said it would not beryllium capable to respond to each calls of a superior quality and immoderate patients would person to marque their ain mode to hospital.

Stephen Segasby, from the service, said: "Ambulances volition inactive beryllium capable to respond during the strike, but this volition lone beryllium wherever determination is an contiguous hazard to life.

"This means that little superior calls volition not person a effect and immoderate patients mightiness beryllium asked to marque their ain mode to hospital, wherever it is harmless for them to bash so."

London Ambulance Service besides warned that patients with conditions that were not life-threatening were improbable to get an ambulance connected onslaught days.

The strikes successful the wellness work are portion of wide concern enactment crossed a fig of nationalist sectors.

The main national representing Border Force unit is acceptable to locomotion retired for 8 days betwixt 23 and 31 December.

Postal strikes volition instrumentality spot connected 23 and 24 December - immoderate of the busiest days for pre-Christmas deliveries. The RMT obstruction workers' national is besides acceptable to signifier onslaught enactment betwixt Christmas Eve and 27 December.

Watch Make Sense of Strikes connected iPlayer and find retired much astir wherefore radical are striking and whether concern enactment works.