On January 18, nurses in England began a new two-day strike demanding a pay increase as officials warned of the risk of disrupting medical care for thousands of patients.
Before that, in December 2022, nurses in the UK also launched an unprecedented scale strike, joining the wave of strikes of people working in the public sector whose lives have been affected by the cost of living crisis.
The trade union Royal College of Nursing (RCN) argues that the government is not seriously negotiating on improving salary agreement theirs for this year.
As such, this latest strike puts additional pressure on the NHS, at a time when demand is at its highest and waiting lists are long.
According to Health Secretary Steve Barclay, this new strike will impact patients. He said the England and Wales nurses’ strike in December 2022 had resulted in the cancellation of “approximately 30,000 procedures”. healthcare electives and outpatient appointments.”
The results of a YouGov poll released on January 17 showed that 63% of respondents supported the nurses’ strike.
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However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said the strike was not the “right action”, and called on the union to stop the strike to continue negotiations.
Meanwhile, the head of the NHS, which represents state healthcare providers in England and Wales, Matthew Taylor, urged ministers to resume wage negotiations with unions. .
The NHS confederation estimates nurses’ strikes this week might cause 4,500 surgeries and 25,000 outpatient appointments to be cancelled.
Further strikes are planned by the RCN for 6 and 7 February with the highest intensity in British history.
Minh Chau (VNA/Vietnam+)