National Health Service nurses in Britain staged a strike on Thursday, the primary nationwide strike, as a bitter dispute with the federal government over pay adds to pressure on already overburdened hospitals during one among the busiest times of the yr.
An estimated 100,000 nurses are on strike across 76 hospitals and health centers canceling an estimated 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries within the UK’s state-funded NHS.
Great Britain is in for a wave industrial motion this winter, with strikes crippling the rail network and postal services, and airports bracing for disruption over the Christmas period.
Inflation of greater than 10%, followed by wage offers of around 4%, is fueling tensions between unions and employers.
But of all of the strikes, the sight of nurses on picket lines will likely be a standout image for a lot of Brits this winter.
![A nurse holds a sign outside St. Thomas in London, Thursday, December 15.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/2022-12-15T080741Z_1487053239_RC276Y98SYWT_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-STRIKES-NURSES.jpg?w=1024)
“What a tragic day. It is a tragic day for nursing, it is a tragic day for patients, patients in hospitals like this, and it is a tragic day for the people of this society and for our NHS,” Pat Cullen, head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), told the BBC during pickets on Thursday.
The much admired nursing occupation will shut down a part of the NHS which has been nationally treasured since its inception in 1948 for being free at the purpose of use, hitting healthcare when it’s already stretched over winter and backlogs at record levels resulting from delays related to COVID.
Health Minister Steve Barclay said it was regrettable that the strike went ahead.
“I have been working across the federal government and with non-public sector doctors to make sure a protected level of staffing – but I’m still concerned in regards to the risk strikes pose to patients,” he said.
Barclay said patients should proceed to hunt urgent medical attention and attend appointments unless they’ve been told to not.
![Thursday's strike will affect nearly 100 hospitals with limited staff.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/2022-12-15T085106Z_118215181_RC286Y9YYUG2_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-STRIKES-NURSES.jpg?w=1024)
MORE STRIKES AHEAD?
Nurses’ industrial motion on December 15 and 20 is unprecedented within the 106-year history of the British nursing union, however the RCN says it has no selection as staff struggle to make ends meet.
Nurses desire a 19% pay rise, arguing that they’ve seen real cuts for a decade, and low pay means understaffing and unsafe patient care.
The federal government has refused to debate wages, which Cullen says creates the prospect of more strikes.
“Every room I am going into with the secretary of state, he tells me he can discuss anything except paying,” she said. “What he intends to do is proceed with days like this.”
In front of the St. Thomas in central London, Ethnea Vaughan, a practice development nurse from London, 50, said she felt nurses had no selection but to go on strike, blaming a government that had ignored their concerns for years.
“Nothing changes and I have been a nurse for 27 years and all I see is a gradual decline in morale,” she told Reuters.
The federal government in Scotland avoided a nurses’ strike by holding pay talks that the RCN had hoped for in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But the federal government said it couldn’t afford to pay greater than the 4-5% offered to nurses, which was beneficial by an independent body, and that further pay increases would mean taking money away from frontline services.
![Nurses hold signs outside St. Thomas with Big Ben in the background.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/12/2022-12-15T080042Z_2007355349_RC276Y9SSYRD_RTRMADP_3_BRITAIN-STRIKES-NURSES.jpg?w=1024)
Some areas of treatment will likely be exempt from strike motion, including chemotherapy, dialysis and intensive care, based on the RCN.
Polls ahead of the nurses’ strike showed a majority of Britons supported the motion, but once the strikes began politicians could be closely monitoring public opinion.