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More hospitals to take part in strikes in January, RCN announces, after UK Government fails to open NHS pay talks

Press Release 23/12/2022

The Royal College of Nursing today announces two consecutive days of strike action in January in England in an escalation of its pay dispute with the UK government.

Unless negotiations are opened, RCN members will strike again on 18 and 19 January 2023. The action will take place at more NHS employers in England than happened this month – increasing from 44 to 55 trusts, or by 25 per cent.

The RCN had said it would be forced to announce more strike days if ministers failed to open NHS pay talks following Tuesday’s strike.

Two days of strike action were held in England, Northern Ireland and Wales on 15 and 20 December. The RCN has repeatedly invited ministers to hold talks on NHS pay.

The value of salaries for experienced nurses today are 20 per cent lower in real terms due to successive below-inflation pay awards since 2010.

RCN members will not be striking in Wales and Northern Ireland again in January. Its commitment to members is that everyone employed where strike action has been mandated will have the opportunity to strike if the dispute continues.

In Scotland, RCN members this week overwhelmingly voted to reject a revised NHS pay offer from the Scottish government. Strike action had been paused pending the ballot’s outcome, but RCN Scotland now will announce dates for strike action early in the new year.

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, Pat Cullen, said:

“The Government had the opportunity to end this dispute before Christmas but instead they have chosen to push nursing staff out into the cold again in January. I do not wish to prolong this dispute but the Prime Minister has left us with no choice.

“The public support has been heart-warming and I am more convinced than ever that this is the right thing to do for patients and the future of the NHS.

“The voice of nursing will not be ignored. Staff shortages and low pay make patient care unsafe – the sooner ministers come to the negotiating table, the sooner this can be resolved. I will not dig in, if they don’t dig in.”

In the last year, 25,000 nursing staff around the UK left the Nursing and Midwifery Council register. Poor pay contributes to staff shortages across the UK, affecting patient safety. There are 47,000 unfilled registered nurse posts in England’s NHS alone.

Independent research commissioned by the RCN has shown the Exchequer would recoup 81% of the initial outlay of a significant pay rise in terms of higher tax receipts and savings on future recruitment and retention costs.

Ends

Notes to Editors

Researchers at London Economics, commissioned by the RCN, looked at the pay awards that NHS Agenda for Change nursing staff have been given in the UK since 2010. They found that in real terms, the salary of an experienced nurse has fallen by 20% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 16% in Scotland.

They also found that the Exchequer would recoup 81% of the initial outlay in terms of higher tax receipts and savings on future recruitment and retention costs. The report can be found here.

This is the list of the 70 NHS employers where the strike action will take place:

East Midlands

NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB (Joined Up Care Derbyshire)

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust

Eastern

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Mid and South Essex ICB

NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB

London

Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

NHS South West London ICB

North West

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Northern

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust

South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

North of England CSU (NECS)

South East

Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

NHS Kent and Medway ICB

NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB

Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

Solent NHS Trust

South West

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust

Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust

NHS Dorset ICB (Our Dorset)

West Midlands

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust

Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust

NHS Black Country ICB

Midlands and Lancashire CSU

Yorkshire and the Humber

Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust

Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Sheffield Childrens NHS Foundation Trust

NHS West Yorkshire ICB

National employers

NHS Resolution

NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT)

Press Office Contacts

Nick Spears, Senior Media Officer
020 7647 3696

Claire Nelson, Senior Media Officer
029 2054 6401

Nina Romain, Media Officer
020 7647 3555

Michael Finlayson, Media Officer
020 7647 3459

Out of hours duty press officer
020 7647 3633