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UK nurses on Thursday begin an unprecedented strike as a “last resort” in their fight for better wages and working conditions, despite warnings it could put patients at risk.
Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are holding a one-day stoppage from 0800 to 2000 GMT after rejecting a government pay offer.
Ameera, a senior nurse in London, told AFP that “we have not chosen industrial action lightly”. The strike is the first in the Royal College of Nursing union’s 106-year history.
“We’re tired. We’re fed up,” added the nurse, who asked that her last name not be reported. “We need a pay rise now to make a living.”
The UK is currently grappling with a cost-of-living crisis as spiralling inflation outstrips wage growth.
Union leaders and health workers also said nurses were being overworked due to staff shortages, as the state-run National Health Service (NHS) battled a backlog in appointments made worse by cancellations during the pandemic.
But other services will be reduced to Christmas staffing levels during the walk-out, the RCN said.
Health chiefs warned unions that care levels could suffer because of the walkout, just as seasonal respiratory conditions such as flu add pressure on already stretched services.
Cally Palmer, national cancer director for England, called on the union to exempt cancer surgery from the walkout, while England’s chief nursing officer expressed concern over the strike staffing plans.
“We hear from our colleagues that they are concerned by the assumption, implied by the RCN, that night duty staffing on day duty is safe,” Ruth May wrote in a letter to the RCN.
