Pay rise for nurses would take cash away from surgery, says Barclay

PAYING nurses more would take money away from funding NHS operations, the Health Secretary has said, as ministers meet to discuss contingency plans for forthcoming strikes.

Steve Barclay insisted it is down to the independent pay review body to set rates of pay as Pat Cullen, Royal College of Nursing (RCN), chief executive said that the Government’s door is “firmly shut” to talks.

Strikes by nurses, paramedics, rail workers and Border Force staff this month are expected to cause mass disruption, with thousands of operations and appointments cancelled. The military and civil servants are likely to be brought in to cover for Border Force staff, while the Armed Forces will also be deployed to hospital trusts ahead of an ambulance worker strike on Dec 21.

Asked on BBC One’s Breakfast if it is time for him to sit down with the RCN and “talk money”, Mr Barclay said: “We have engaged with them and we continue to be willing to do so.”

He said nurses have spoken to him about challenges in the NHS such as technology, working conditions and security, “but we do have an independent pay review body and it’s important both sides respect that independent body; it includes trade union representation on it. That’s what we’ve done.”

He said seven million people are waiting for an operation “and it’s important we prioritise our funding to patients to clear those operation backlogs”. He added: “I don’t want to be taking money away from clearing the backlog, which is what we would have to do – we’d have to take money away from patients waiting for operations to then fund additional pay.

“And if everyone in the public sector were to get an increase in line with inflation, that would be costing £28 billion at a time when the Government has to get inflation under control, because that is the biggest factor in terms of people’s cost of living.

The RCN said nurses could suspend planned strikes if the Government agrees to talks on pay.

Ms Cullen told ITV’S Good Morning Britain: “The door is [shut] on myself and the 320,000 nurses who participated in this ballot for strike action.”