The former chair of the pay review body suggests the current pay recommendation is out of date
Ministers should ask the NHS pay review body to review the recommended pay rise and consider how inflation has risen as a possible solution to the strikes, a former head of the body has said.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Gerry Cope defended the pay review bodies as “fiercely independent” but told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that their decision may be “delayed”.
“It happened in February and the world was quite a different place in February and so I think some of the evidence that they thought was probably out of date by the time it was published,” he said.
“This may be an opportunity to solve this apparently intractable problem.”
He added: “I think they (ministers) should ask the pay review body to review what they did last year and not reopen last year because I think it’s too late to do that, but actually I’m saying I want you to do a very quick turnaround on this year’s recommendations and I want you to consider anything you may have missed last time. I think this is a way out because it respects the integrity of the salary review body.’
Updated at 08.10 GMT
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A health worker holds a placard at a picket outside St Mary’s Hospital in west London on December 15, 2022 – Nurses in the UK staged an unprecedented one-day strike as a “last resort” in their fight for better pay and working conditions, despite warnings, that may put patients at risk. Photo: Isabel Infantes/AFP/Getty Images Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) picket outside the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff as nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland take strike action over pay. Photo: Bronwen Weatherby/PA
Here is the clip of Sir Jake Berry, who was leader of the Conservative Party when Liz Truss was Prime Minister, saying the Government should offer nurses a better deal.
Stephen Morris
Caitlin Cran-McPartlan, 22, a third-year student, joined the column after finishing a busy night shift in the cardiology unit at Bristol Royal Infirmary.
She said: “Very rarely have I been on a shift where I feel we are fully staffed, that we are safe to work. Often, as a nursing assistant, I take care of 20 patients. It’s stressful. You end up running around like a headless chicken.
“There aren’t enough of us and a lot of that is down to money and people not being able to live on nurses’ and nursing assistants’ salaries.”
“But I don’t regret this career choice. It’s strange, but I love patients, I love to talk to them, wake them up, joke with them, sing to them, dance with them. I love making people feel better, even if I’m having a really bad shift. I still feel like I’m doing something good. I like to make people smile.”
Caitlin Cran-McPartlan, 22, a third-year student nurse, on the line outside Bristol Royal Infirmary “It’s very rarely I’ve been on a shift where I feel like we’re fully staffed.” pic.twitter.com/5b5a7Efqpe
— Steven Morris (@stevenmorris20) December 15, 2022
Jane Matthews, 66, a paediatrics nurse at the pillar outside Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital, said: “I’m disappointed, disappointed, I find it really sad that it has come to this. We don’t want to be here. We shouldn’t do that.
“The hospital is simply understaffed. Today we are staffing our wards with a derogation at night and I have nurses in some wards who say it is more than we normally have during the day.
“Because there are so few nurses, people get tired, stressed, lose enthusiasm for coming to work. One of the girls who was on the line earlier broke down in the middle of the strike because she was so tired and so demoralized. She is devastated.
“When the winter pressure starts, we already have capacity. If you don’t have enough nurses, you don’t have open beds, which means you can’t get people out of the emergency room fast enough to have the ambulances on standby. This winter is going to get worse and worse.”
Jane Matthews, 66, a nurse picketing outside Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital: “I’m disappointed, disappointed, I find it really sad that it has come to this. We don’t want to be here. We shouldn’t be doing this. pic.twitter.com/Iokm2FVk5H
— Steven Morris (@stevenmorris20) December 15, 2022 Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) picket outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle as nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland take strike action over pay. Picture: Owen Humphreys/PA Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) picket outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle as nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland take strike action over pay. Photo: Owen Humphreys/Pennsylvania
Updated at 09.12 GMT
Here are questions and answers about why nurses are on strike, why the pay offer was and other critical questions about the reasons for the strikes.
Saffron Cordery, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said NHS trusts were “going all out” to reduce the impact on patients.
Speaking to the PA, she said: “The cold snap has increased demand which was already at or near record levels, but on strike day NHS trusts will be doing everything they can to ensure essential services are adequately staffed and patients are safe , always the number one priority, is protected.”
Pat Cullen, chief executive of the RCN, accused Health Secretary Steve Barclay of “belligerence” after he refused to discuss the pay issue. He said the Government was sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review body, which said nurses should receive a pay rise of around £1,400.
Updated at 09.17 GMT
Picketing outside St Thomas’ Hospital in Westminster, Linda Tovey, an intensive care nurse, said: “It’s getting harder and harder to come to work and come home and think, ‘I don’t really think I can let go the heating. ‘
“My salary isn’t bad for a nurse, but I still have to think about what I’m doing with my money every month, and it’s not the position I envisioned myself in.” and you don’t get recognition in terms of wages.
“My own circumstances mean that I have a little money left at the end of the month, but I still come home and think twice about turning on the light.” I don’t cook food in the oven very often, since I realized, cooking a meal costs the same , what the electricity cost me for the whole day.’
Updated at 09.18 GMT
The head of the RCN, Pat Cullen, joined union members on a picket in London. And strikers were also photographed in Newcastle.
Pat Cullen with members of the Royal College of Nursing on the line outside St Thomas’ Hospital. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PANurses picket outside the Royal Victoria Hospital in Newcastle. Photo: Owen Humphreys/Pennsylvania
Updated at 09.18 GMT
Outside Liverpool’s Aintree University Hospital, nurses gathered to join the 7.30am motorcade.
Many held placards with slogans including “Short staffing costs lives” and “You clapped for us, now act for us”.
One woman held signs reading ‘To hell with the Tories’ and ‘If there are nurses here, something is wrong’.
As cars drove by, they honked their horns in support of the column outside the hospital’s emergency room.
Updated at 09.18 GMT
There are now pictures of the strikes going over the photo wires. Here’s the first look at strike action in London this morning.
Nurses strike outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Photo: Henry Nicholls/Reuters Nurses hold placards in London as the strike begins. Photo: Henry Nicholls/Reuters Strikers were early in London this morning. Photo: Henry Nicholls/Reuters
Updated at 08.35 GMT
RCN chief: ‘It’s tragic that this government has decided not to talk to us’
Pat Cullen, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said there was “nothing independent” about the independent pay review body’s process, adding that “hundreds of nurses” were leaving the profession every day.
“It’s a tragic day for nurses, a tragic day for patients … and it’s a tragic day for people in the public and for our NHS,” she told BBC Breakfast. “And it’s tragic that this government decided not to talk to us, not to talk to us, to walk into a room on the first day of the strikes, and that’s why we’re here today.”
‘Tragic day for nurses’: RCN boss slams Health Secretary over strikes – video
Cullen added that nurses had asked for “the 20% that has been cut from our nurses’ pay over the last decade to be put back” and Health Secretary Steve Barclay had told her she could talk about “anything , but not for payment – it won’t solve anything. What it’s going to do is go on for days like this.”
She said the independent pay review body was “set up by the government, paid for by the government, appointed by the government and the parameters of the review are set by the government, so there’s nothing independent about it and that’s why they came up with the 3% they came up with .
“There is nothing independent about the independent pay review body – it might be adopted by the government but not by the Royal College of Nursing.”
Updated at 09.23 GMT
Speaking on Sky News, Health Secretary Maria Caulfield said the loan could not be used to pay for higher pay for nurses because of the failures of Liz Truss’s mini budget.
She said: We could have ignored the pay review bodies recommendation and gone for a much lower pay rise – we could have gone higher but we have to find that money from somewhere. this is not…
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