Nurses’ strike: staff take to picket lines for seventh time

RCN members will strike from 8pm tonight until 11.59pm on 1 May in their fight for fairer pay and better working conditions, including staff from emergency departments and intensive care units

A fresh wave of nurses’ strikes is about to begin after the latest pay offer from the government was rejected.

RCN members across 125 NHS trusts in England will take to picket lines once again to call for fairer pay and better working conditions. It is the seventh time they have walked out since strikes began in December 2022.

• RELATED: Nurses brace for more strikes as RCN members reject 5% pay offer

Nurses’ message to the government has been clear: it is about patient safety.

Nurses from all fields can take part in strike

The strike action will begin at 8pm on 30 April and run until 11.59pm on 1 May. This time it will be without derogations, which means for the first time nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other units previously exempt from strike action will be able to take part.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen urged the government to ‘do better’.

‘Only negotiations can resolve this and I urge ministers to reopen formal discussions with the college over pay specifically,’ she said.

‘Nursing staff are looking for a fair settlement that shows the government values and understands their profession. We appear a long way from that currently, but I remind ministers it is entirely in their gift.’

The #RCNStrike has begun.

This is for all of us and generations to come.

We will not be silent. We will not see patients suffer. We will not let the NHS disappear on our watch.

Share if you're behind us.#FairPayForNursing #SafeStaffingSavesLives pic.twitter.com/w442GO7eXb

— The RCN (@theRCN) April 30, 2023

Health leaders have urged the RCN to reconsider exemptions for some areas to protect patient safety.

• RELATED: Make exemptions to nurses’ strike – or risk lives, NHS leaders warn

NHS England warned that staffing levels in some areas of England will be ‘exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days’.

The RCN initially said it would not agree to derogations but granted some exemptions on 28 April.

At Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) nurses have agreed to derogations after hospital bosses voiced ‘serious concerns’ about patient safety during the strike.

Strike cut short after government took legal action

The strike had been scheduled to run for 48 hours up until 8pm on 2 May, but a High Court ruling this week forced the RCN to cut the strike short.

Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay brought a High Court challenge against the college, arguing that any action on 2 May was illegal. It followed a call from NHS Employers for the government to intervene.

• RELATED: Nurses’ strikes cut short as Barclay wins court challenge

The court ruled in the government’s favour, finding that any industrial action on 2 May falls outside the RCN’s legal six-month strike mandate that began on 2 November 2022.

Nurses reacted angrily to the decision, with many saying it had strengthened their resolve for further industrial action.

Mr Barclay said the start of strike action tonight is ‘regrettable’.

I’m cautiously optimistic the NHS Staff Council will accept our fair & reasonable pay offer for nurses, ambulance crews & other NHS workers.@theRCN’s strike starting tonight is regrettable.

Speaking to @ITN👇 pic.twitter.com/EjRVzn58BJ

— Steve Barclay (@SteveBarclay) April 30, 2023

In other news

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• Make exemptions to nurses’ strike – or risk lives, NHS leaders warn
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