Cambridgeshire nurses to strike at four NHS trusts

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are staging the walkout over pay levels and patient safety concerns.

The industrial action is expected to begin towards the end of the year.

Steve Barclay, the Health Secretary and MP for North East Cambridgeshire, said he found it “disappointing some RCN members voted for industrial action”.

He added over one million NHS workers have had a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year on top of a 3 per cent rise last year – and “union demands” of a 17.6 per cent settlement “simply aren’t reasonable or affordable”.

It is disappointing some RCN members voted for industrial action.

We accepted the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body in full and have given over one million NHS workers a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year on top of a 3% rise last year.

— Steve Barclay (@SteveBarclay) November 9, 2022

Mr Barclay has since spoken of a “constructive” meeting with the union today (Wednesday), tweeting: “My priority is to keep patients safe and minimise disruption...” 

It is not known exactly how many nurses in Cambridgeshire will be participating in the strike action but has been widely reported emergency care will not be affected.  

Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, Princess of Wales Hospital in Ely, Doddington Hospital and North Cambs Hospital in Wisbech will be among the settings affected.  

The Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care System works with various organisations to plan and deliver health and care services across the county.  

Its spokesman said: “While pay is a matter for government and the trade unions, we value our staff and want to see a resolution as soon as possible...” 

The four NHS trusts where nurses voted in favour of strike action are: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust. 

Brigid-Ann Leslie, RCN Senior Officer for Cambridgeshire, said the organisation’s members “have made it clear that enough is enough”.  

She said: “We now hope the government thinks carefully about the strength of feeling among nursing staff that has led to them voting for this action and acts to address their concerns.  

“We have always been clear that patient safety will be at the centre of our planning as we move to strike action.  

“We would ask the public to show their support for nursing staff as we take this step to protect patient safety and staffing levels in the long-term.” 

Even though nurses will not be striking at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon, and Peterborough City Hospital, management there are still preparing contingency measures. 

A spokesman for the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both hospitals, said the RCN has officially confirmed there will not be any industrial action at its sites.   

He added: “However, like all other NHS organisations, we are making plans to address the possible impact of strike or other action by trade union members.   

“Any action will impact some services and the trust will work with the unions to agree to protect critical services as far as possible.”  

NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Integrated Care Board which plans, budgets and identifies the services a community needs also didn’t meet the threshold for strike action in its ballot.  

In Cambridgeshire, there are settings where services are run by multiple trusts such as Doddington Hospital and Princess of Wales Hospital, in Ely.  

Those who will be participating work for trusts that passed the legal threshold for industrial action in their ballot. 

When we asked readers on social media whether they thought nurses are right to strike, the overwhelming majority agreed they should. 

One responded: “It's not only a fight for fair pay (I wonder how many are having to use food banks? Also I can't believe they have to pay for parking at work!), but also about staffing levels.  

“Nurses are saying standards have fallen, not through any fault of theirs, and that has a direct impact on patient safety.” 

Another said: “What I think should happen is the NHS stop employing agency nurses at huge amounts of money and give that money in a decent pay rise to existing nurses. 

“All the agency nurses can then work for the NHS again...” 

On the other hand, one commented: “... the only people to gain are union bosses.”  

This was the first statutory ballot on industrial action across the UK in the RCN’s 106-year history. 

It was only conducted among members directly employed by the NHS, specifically on Agenda for Change contracts.  

Nurses in independent or private settings were not included.  

The RCN says the ballot was prompted following NHS Agenda for Change pay announcements earlier this year, which left experienced nurses 20 per cent worse off in real-terms compared to 10 years earlier.  

It also claims 25,000 nursing staff around the UK have left the Nursing and Midwifery Council in the last year and there are 47,000 unfilled registered nurse posts in England’s NHS.