You take the money and your patients will pay the price

As Britain faces mass walkouts, the health secretary warns NHSA NURSES...

Patients will suffer if ministers bow to nurses’ demands for pay rises, the health secretary has warned as tens of thousands of NHS staff prepare to walk out today. Writing exclusively in The Independent, Steve Barclay said any boost to wages would “take billions of pounds away from where we need it most”. Pay hikes “will mean cutting patient care and stoking the inflation that would make us all poorer”, he wrote. But the Royal College of Nursing accused him of “pitting nurses against patients”, branding the comments a “new low”. An RCN spokesperson said: “Patient care is suffering because his government cut nurses’ wages for over a decade, causing record nursing vacancies in the NHS. Paying nurses fairly and patient care go hand in hand.” Tens of thousands of nurses are expected to strike today across 55 trusts. NHS data shows 4,567 operations and 25,009 outpatient appointments were cancelled during the strikes on 15 and 20 December. The NHS also faces more ambulance strikes next Monday. Figures last week showed the NHS has 47,000 unfilled nursing jobs, and record levels of staff leaving the health service for “better reward packages”. Mr Barclay said NHS staff could receive a “top up” on pay if savings are made through cuts to “administrative burdens”. His words come after NHS England was forced to cut more than 6,000 jobs as part of cost-saving measures this year. One senior NHS source suggested any further cuts to the headcount would not be enough to fund a new pay offer. The strikes come as hospitals face “eye-watering” A&E waits this winter.