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| Volume 52 Number 20, September 10, 2022 | ARCHIVE | HOME | JBCENTRE | SUBSCRIBE |
Pat Cullen, Royal College of Nursing General Secretary
and Chief Executive
Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive, Pat Cullen, has warned: "Nurses have been pushed to the brink and beyond, and the only way it appears we are going to get the government to listen is to take action."
After discussing with nurses in England throughout August, the RCN general secretary, whose background is in mental health nursing, said that nurses felt they had no choice but to leave the profession or work every single solitary hour that is available in the day to make ends meet. Nurses from overseas had also said they were now thinking very seriously about returning to their country of origin because they can no longer afford to live here.
Pat Cullen cited examples of nurses being denied rental properties as they did not earn enough, meaning some with young families were being put up in a room in other people's houses. Some were having to live hours outside of the large London hospital areas, meaning their days were starting at 5am and finishing at around 11pm.
"Then they tell me that, when they have finished their shift, they have to 'embarrassingly' go along to the food bank and try and bring some food home to their children," Pat Cullen said. The RCN general secretary said that it was shameful that nurses were being made to live this way and urged government ministers to spend a day walking in the shoes of those nurses to help them realise the importance of, and need for, a decent wage.
"This is a profession where morale is the lowest I have ever seen it in 42 years," Ms Cullen said in an interview with Nursing Times. "Morale is lower now than it even was at the time that we took strike action in Northern Ireland, and I didn't think it could get much lower."
Nurses in the north of Ireland successfully went on strike in 2019 to gain pay parity with nurses in England, Scotland and Wales, and a promise of safe staffing.
As RCN leader, Pat Cullen said that she wanted to see the profession "valued and respected by those in power" and that this should be the top priority for the next prime minster.
The RCN has been campaigning for a fully funded pay rise for nursing staff of 5% above inflation. It branded the below-inflation awards an insult to the profession and subsequently launched a set of four official ballots across Britain and northern Ireland. Members of health unions nationwide are now preparing to cast their votes in upcoming ballots on industrial action, including strikes, following the latest pay awards from the four UK governments. The 2022-23 pay awards for NHS staff on Agenda for Change have fallen well below the level of inflation, despite the campaigning of the unions, including the RCN.
In England and Wales, a pay increase of at least £1,400 was awarded, in line with the NHS Pay Review Body's recommendations. In northern Ireland, the lack of a fully functioning government means that nurses are still waiting for an official pay outcome. Northern Ireland's health minister had announced his intention to accept the recommended £1,400 uplift but was unable to implement it immediately because of budget issues. In Scotland, which has broken away from the pay review body process, a 5% increase was put forward for nurses.
In leading the RCN campaign, Pat Cullen said that she had learned just how much the public trusted nurses and that nurses will go to any length to do the right thing for patients. In this context, while finer details would need to be arranged if action were voted for, the RCN leader said that the College would be wishing to move very quickly after the ballot closes. The RCN's fund for supporting members taking industrial action has already been increased from £35m to £50m.
If strikes were not voted for, however, Pat Cullen accepted it would be "the voice of the nurse". But, she added: "It would be very clear to me that nurses are still concerned about the impact [strike action] will have on their patients, even though we will make sure it is safely, effectively and professionally delivered."
The RCN's industrial action handbook sets out the different types that can be taken, such as action short of strike, also known as working to rule. This means working strictly to the terms of a contract of employment, including by starting and finishing shifts on time and taking all contractual breaks. Meanwhile, strike action involves a complete withdrawal of labour from the workplace.
A YouGov poll in August conducted on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing has shown increasing public support for nurse strike action. A survey of 1,752 people throughout Britain found that 64% supported such action. Workers' Weekly adds its support to the nurses' struggle. Nurses have their dignity, and demand better. This is a demand to be treated as caring human beings, and the struggle is also part of the demand for a human-centred health service, in which nurses show their worth.
(Nursing Times)