Posted 17 April 2023 - 13:19
Posted 17 April 2023 - 13:19
News
Nurses warned they won’t get a better deal after rejecting latest offer
Downing Street rules out reopening talks but nurses’ leader Pat Cullen warns that fresh round of strikes could last until Christmas
Downing Street rules out reopening talks but nurses’ leader Pat Cullen warns that fresh round of strikes could last until Christmas
Picture: John Houlihan
Nurses have been warned they will not get an improved pay offer after they voted to reject the government’s revised deal.
Downing Street has also ruled out reopening talks after RCN members voted down an offer comprising a 5% pay rise for 2023-24 and a one-off payment of between £1,655 and £3,789 for 2022-23.
The warning comes after RCN general secretary Pat Cullen told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that if a planned England-wide statutory ballot approves extending the scope and duration of the current strike mandate it would mean nurses would return to picket lines ‘right up until Christmas’.
She also said the college would not pause strike action planned for the May bank holiday weekend. These strikes will be without derogations, meaning that for the first time they will involve nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other units previously exempt from industrial action.
Pat Cullen confirms she will seek fresh mandate for industrial action
It comes after 61% of eligible members took part in the RCN’s pay consultation, which closed on 14 April, with 54% of them voting to reject the revised offer. Unison announced on the same day that 74% of those voting in its ballot wanted to accept the offer.
Following the result, the RCN announced that nurses would strike from 8pm on 30 April to 8pm on 2 May and said it will re-ballot its members on further industrial action covering both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 pay years, as its current mandate for such action expires next month.
Downing Street insists it will not reopen talks or improve its pay offer to nurses
But Downing Street has confirmed that the government will not reopen talks or improve its pay offer to nurses.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: ‘The Royal College of Nursing was clear that talks will not be reopened if members reject the pay offer, and we agree. We do think there is a fair offer on the table. We’re not looking to re-open it.’
Ms Cullen told the BBC there were no plans in place to coordinate strikes with the British Medical Association but did not rule out striking at the same time as junior doctors, who have taken to picket lines in recent weeks.
Nursing Standard readers shared their views on social media after the result of the ballot was announced, with many supporting the rejection.
Meanwhile the RCN director for England Patricia Marquis told LBC Radio on Monday that public support would wane if a child died because there was not enough nursing cover while nurses were on strike.
Ms Marquis said: ‘We need to keep the public with us. They trust us. We know they trust us. They know that we and our members will make good judgements.’
NHS trusts warned to ‘plan well’ for next round of strikes
She also issued a two-week warning to ministers to plan well for the strikes at the end of April, which are expected to take place at 125 NHS trusts in England.
‘Work out who you’ve got to provide the services that are going to be needed on those days and they will need to manage. It’s not an ideal situation,’ she said
Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay said in a letter to Ms Cullen that he was disappointed with the RCN’s decision to strike without awaiting the results of the other unions’ ballots and the NHS Staff Council’s final vote, which will determine if the pay offer is implemented.
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