A letter has questioned the safety of the planned strikes.
The UK’s chief nursing officers have written to the Royal College of Nursing to call for more clinical areas exempt from strike action.
On Thursday, up to 100,000 nursing staff across the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will take industrial action following a decade of real-terms pay cuts and deteriorating working conditions.
The letter calls for the current exemption, also known as derogation, to be extended to include hospital wards, mental health units, and community services alongside paediatric, end-of-life, and emergency services.
Signed by all four chief nursing officers, it questions the safety of the planned strike action and calls for more support for Directors of Nursing during this difficult time.
Patient care could be compromised.
Nurses took to social media last night to express their upset. One nurse told NursingNotes, “We are too important to strike, but not to provide enough staff or pay properly”.
The letter explains, “We understand how challenging it is for all nurses to make individual personal and professional decisions regarding taking industrial action.”
It warns that without further derogation, patient care could be compromised.
“Many Chief Nurses / Directors of Nursing are, of course, RCN members themselves and some have expressed feelings of having been let down by the RCN”, the letter explains.
Before concluding, “We remain committed, as senior nurse leaders, to stay in close communication with you throughout this period to ensure that we achieve our shared aim that neither patient nor staff safety is jeopardised.”
