Talks held with nursing leaders
HEALTH Secretary Steve Barclay held “cordial” talks with the union leader behind the nurses’ strike as they seek to avert industrial action that will hit operations and appointments.
The Cabinet minister said discussions with Royal College of Nursing (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen were “constructive” and his focus was on patient safety and minimising disruption.
But he was understood to be resistant to negotiating on pay, with the union demanding an increase of at least 15% compared with the £1,400 rise awarded earlier this year.
The RCN announced on Wednesday that its members in the majority of NHS employers across the UK have backed industrial action.
The health service will turn its attention to treating emergency patients in a “life-preserving care model”, with sources saying some hospitals on strike days will have staffing levels similar to those over Christmas.
Some of the most serious cancer cases could still be treated, while urgent diagnostic procedures and assessments will be staffed if they are needed to gather data on potentially life-threatening conditions or those that could lead to permanent disability.
After the meeting in Whitehall, Mr Barclay tweeted: “Nurses do an incredible job and I regret some union members have voted for strikes. My priority is to keep patients safe and minimise disruption – my door is open and we have agreed to meet again shortly.”
A Department of Health and Social Care source said they did discuss pay but that the Government position remained they were “not negotiating” as they try to stick to the NHS pay review body’s recommendation rather than the 5% above the rate of inflation that nurses are demanding.
The talks instead were said to have focused on a “wide range of issues” including patient safety and working conditions. “There was a willingness on both sides to engage on all those issues,” they said. “Pay is going to be difficult, both sides set out where we’re at.”
The RCN said the talks were a “cordial introduction that covered many important, broad topics”.
“We await a future meeting to address the specifics of our dispute and the reality that our members have voted to strike,” a statement added.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he supports the “right” of the nurses to strike, but refused to commit to above-inflation pay rises for nurses if he was in No 10. “I completely empathise with the position that nurses are in,” he told ITV News.
“They’re working really hard in really difficult circumstances. Pay is an issue, numbers are an issue if you ask anybody who works in the health service, and my wife does, the number one issue is we haven’t got enough people.
“If and when we come into power, and I hope the sooner the better, we’re going to inherit a pretty awful economic situation after... this Tory Government has crashed the economy. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep.”