Nursing staff walk out with ambulance staff to follow

A HUGE demonstration was held outside Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Tuesday as nurses took part in the second day of strikes in a dispute over pay.

Thousands of nurses across the country staged industrial action after first walking out on December 15.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said staff provided life preserving and some urgent care but routine services were disrupted.

Patients were advised to turn up for appointments unless they had been contacted by the NHS.

The union has demanded a 19 per cent pay rise and said rising inflation had made it more difficult to attract nurses.

It came as ambulance workers walk out this Thursday in disruption expected to last up to three days.

At Queen Elizabeth Hospital, dozens of workers turned out to demand better pay. Many held signs, with representatives from the Enough is Enough protest group also in attendance.

There were about 40 to 50 nurses with signs reading: ‘I’d rather be nursing but this is important’.

Strikers were greeted with applause from passers-by on their way to the hospital.

Another placard said: “NHS heroes running on zeros.”

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “I want to say to the Prime Minister, please step in now and do the decent thing on behalf of every patient and member of the public of this country. But please do the decent thing also for nursing staff, get round the table and start to talk to me on their behalf.”

The union boss said public support for nurses was “immense” and it was up to the PM to bring an end to the action.

She added: “No nurse wants to do this. And certainly no patient deserves it. But this is completely now on his desk to actually bring a resolution to this.”

Meanwhile, Health Minister Will Quince denied Rishi Sunak was “taking the mickey” when he spoke about NHS services being there for the public.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Sunak said he wanted to deliver “peace of mind” for the public.

Pressed about the claim, he said: “If you look at the most recent autumn statement, public services were prioritised, whether it was the £8 billion into health and social care or the additional funding into education.

“We have an independent pay review body recommendation, which we’ve accepted in full. It’s important you have that process and let’s not forget that last year we had the same process where the recommendation was three per cent for NHS staff when the wider public sector was frozen.

“And that was at the time three times higher than inflation.”