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Nurses' strikes to go ahead after talks with minister fail

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said government had 'closed their books and walked away' after last-ditch meeting with Steve Barclay

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said government had 'closed their books and walked away' after last-ditch meeting with Steve Barclay

Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay
Steve Barclay Picture: BBC

Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay has claimed paying nurses more would take money away from patients as the war of words between unions and the government escalated this week.

RCN confirms strikes will go ahead after talks with minister end in deadlock

Mr Barclay today met with RCN general secretary Pat Cullen after the college offered to pause strike action if the government began formal pay negotiations.

Following the meeting the RCN confirmed strikes will continue as planned after the government 'closed their books and walked away'.

'I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nurses why they should not strike this week. Regrettably, they are not getting an extra penny,' Ms Cullen said.

Health secretary says nurses' pay demands would divert cash from patient care

Mr Barclay told the college any further pay increase would mean taking money from frontline services, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said.

'Mr Barclay said he would continue to engage with the RCN as we move into the pay review process for next year and on non-pay related issues.'

The minister has consistently said that the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) sets nurses’ rate of pay and this morning suggested that meeting the pay demands would divert money away from people who need surgery.

‘We’d have to take money away from patients waiting for operations to then fund additional pay,’ he told BBC Breakfast today.

When asked if it was time to sit down with the RCN and ‘talk money’, Mr Barclay said he had engaged with the college but failed to address whether he would negotiate on pay.

Other ministers previously ruled out pay negotiations. Speaking on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, foreign secretary James Cleverly defended the government’s position on pay talks and said ultimately salary negotiations are down to unions and the NHS.

Unions push for formal pay negotiations

It comes as the RCN and Unison wrote to Mr Barclay over the weekend confirming they were willing to press pause on strike action if formal negotiations on pay could begin.

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain today Ms Cullen said there was a ‘strong possibility’ she would avert strike action in a last-ditch effort to get Mr Barclay to discuss pay.

But she added she would not ‘negotiate on the airwaves’ when asked if she would consider an offer that was lower than the 5% above the retail price index measure of inflation the RCN has campaigned for.

Government prepares emergency response plan for wave of strike action

Cobra, the government’s emergency response committee, is expected to meet this afternoon to discuss contingency plans as the country braces for a wave of strikes this week, including nurses on 15 December.

Armed forces are expected to be deployed to hospital trusts ahead of 21 December, when ambulance staff will walk out.

Unison’s head of health Sara Gorton slammed the government’s reluctance to talk about pay, saying minsters needed to ‘stop making excuses and hiding behind the PRB’.

It comes after data published by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) last week shows the UK is languishing far behind comparable European countries when it comes to nurses’ pay.

The Department of Health and Social Care was contacted for comment.


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