Nurses to strike at almost 80 trusts and care boards
Posted 29 November 2022 - 17:00
Locations for first strikes on 15 and 20 December revealed by RCN, with warning that more will be added in January unless pay talks are held
The locations for the first nursing strike in the RCN’s history have been revealed, with some 100,000 nursing staff expected to take to picket lines next month.
Nurses at almost 80 trusts and integrated care boards (ICB) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will take part in strike action on 15 and 20 December, the RCN has confirmed.
Members of the union will take industrial action at half of the locations in England where the legal threshold in the strike ballot was met. Meanwhile, there will be strike action at all but one NHS employer in Wales and throughout Northern Ireland.
The RCN, which announced its first strike dates last week, today warned that the number of NHS employers in England hit by strikes will increase in January unless negotiations on pay take place.
‘Ministers still have the power and the means to stop this by opening negotiations that address our dispute’
Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary
It comes after the government declined to come to the table over pay negotiations, with health and social care secretary Steve Barclay instead offering discussions on holidays and pensions, rostering and free hot drinks.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen accused ministers of ‘choosing’ strike action by declining repeated offers of pay negotiations, adding it has left the union with no choice but to announce where nurses will walk out in December.
She said: ‘Nursing is standing up for the profession and their patients. We’ve had enough of being taken for granted and being unable to provide the care patients deserve.
‘Ministers still have the power and the means to stop this by opening negotiations that address our dispute.’
RCN demands rise of 5% above current inflation rate of 14%
Staff in England and Wales were offered a 4% or £1,400 pay rise earlier this year, but the RCN has been campaigning for an increase of 5% above the retail price index measure of inflation, which is currently running at 14.2%.
The Scottish government has put forward a ‘best and final offer’ of between £2,205 and £2,751 for all NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts, representing an uplift of about 8.7% for nurses.
Mr Barclay has continued to insist the RCN’s pay demands are not affordable and has come under fire for repeatedly claiming that under the new pay award a newly qualified nurse would ‘typically’ get paid £31,000.
Revised NHS Agenda for Change pay bands show that a newly qualified nurse will get paid £27,055 a year following the 2022 pay award, not £31,000 as Mr Barclay suggested.
Full list of employers where nurses will strike
Here is the full list of NHS employers at which nurses will strike on 15 and 20 December:
England
East Midlands
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Eastern
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
London
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
North Central London ICB
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
North West
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Health Education England
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Northern
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
South East
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
South West
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Bath, North East Somerset
Swindon and Wiltshire ICB (BSW Together)
NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)
North Bristol NHS Trust
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
West Midlands
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB)
Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Yorkshire & Humber
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Yorkshire & Humber NHS England
Wales
Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
Digital Health and Care Wales
Health Education and Improvement Wales Health Authority
Hywel Dda University Health Board
NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
Powys Teaching Local Health Board
Public Health Wales
Swansea Bay University Health Board
Velindre NHS Trust
Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Headquarters
Northern Ireland
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
Business Services Organisation
Northern Health and Social Care Trust
Northern Ireland Ambulance Service
Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service
Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council
Public Health Agency
Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority
South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
Southern Health and Social Care Trust
Western Health and Social Care Trust
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