In Britain, nurses’ threshold for strikes has always been very high, but there was no other option, says an English nurse Nick Cook Yelle in a video interview.
According to him, the nurses did not want to abandon their patients by going on strike.
– However, the situation now is that we practically have to abandon our patients even when we are at work. Even though we work as hard as we can, there just aren’t enough of us.
Yesterday, Tuesday, nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland carried out their second major day of strike action. The first was last week.
It is the first time that the members of the Royal Nursing College, the country’s largest nurses’ union, have gone on strike nationwide in the more than one hundred year history of the union. 10,000 nurses participated in the walkouts yesterday.
Today, Wednesday, ambulance workers – including paramedics, mechanics and central operators – will go on strike for the first day across England and Wales. The unions organizing the walkouts represent 25,000 ambulance workers.
Government: The demands are unreasonable
Nick Cook works in a large English hospital and has been organizing walkouts at his workplace. He doesn’t want to put his own job in jeopardy, because the problems affect the whole of Britain’s public health care, the NHS, equally.
According to the unions, the financial position of caregivers has been deteriorating for years, as wages are falling far behind inflation. This year, several hospitals have been established food distribution points for NHS workers (you will switch to another service)who cannot afford even the basic necessities of life as the cost of living rises.
– If you have to struggle like this to take care of yourself, you won’t be able to treat your patients very effectively, nurse Cook says.
The nurses are demanding a five percent salary increase and that the salary level be adjusted to inflation. In total, the requested salary increase is 19 percent, which is completely unreasonable in the opinion of the country’s government.
Minister of Health Steve Barclay says that NHS workers already received a three percent pay rise last year and that the government is working to improve the health situation with unions in other ways.
– We simply cannot afford a 19 percent salary increase, Barclay wrote on Sunday In the Mail on Sunday magazine (you will switch to another service) and at the same time praised the valuable work done by the nurses.
According to the view of the unions representing NHS employees, there would be money, but the political will is lacking.
In addition to health care, there are also extensive strikes in Britain, including in the railways and the post office. Prime minister Rishi Sunak urges the trade unions to give up their labor struggles.
– I am very disappointed that the unions are on strike. Especially at Christmas time and when the effects of strikes on people’s everyday life and health are so great, Sunak said on Monday.
However, the striking healthcare staff enjoy the support of the people. More than 60 percent of Britons support strikes by nurses and ambulance workers, says You Gov research institute (you switch to another service) recent opinion poll.
In the eyes of the citizens, the cause of the situation is also clear. More than 50 percent blame the government for the situation, just under 20 percent the trade unions and eight percent the employees.
Strike chaos comes on top of normal chaos
Jeopardizing patient safety during strikes has been a central subject of criticism from the government.
Nurses’ strikes do not concern the treatment of life-threatening cases, so for example intensive care units and other urgent care will operate normally on strike days. Nurse Cook says that on the day of the strike, the staffing situation in her hospital’s emergency room was even better than on a normal day, because the hospital’s management had alerted a lot of security personnel.
The impact of the strikes on the already overburdened health care is still great. Due to last week’s strike day, 16,000 non-urgent examinations and surgeries had to be cancelled.
Even during the ambulance strike today and next Wednesday, paramedics will help people in immediate danger. However, waiting times are estimated to be considerably longer.
An elderly person who has fallen at home cannot count on getting an ambulance today, the newspapers say Daily Telegraph (switch to another service) and Guardian (switching to another service).
On the days of the strike, 1,200 soldiers have been called in to drive ambulances, but their possibilities to act in emergency situations are limited. Hospitals are known to be in chaos when patients needing urgent treatment arrive in taxis and in their own cars.
The ambulance strike is feared to cause much greater danger and chaos than the nurses’ strike.
However Guardian (switching to another service) reminds us that even under normal conditions the situation is on the back burner. Due to the shortage of nurses, patients wait a long time in ambulances to be admitted to the ward, and due to the shortage of ambulance staff, patients continue to wait a long time for help in their homes.
In any case, the country’s government accuses the striking nurses and ambulance workers of neglecting patient safety.
According to the unions, the problem is the opposite. Patient safety is not jeopardized because of a strike, but under normal conditions, where there are not enough nurses and beds.
– Patients are not safe in NHS hospitals. It’s a daily reality, nurse Cook says.
– Due to poor salaries, we do not have enough staff. We cannot keep our patients safe. We offer great care, but with few resources, our powers are limited.
“Sick society”
Nick Cook works as a ward nurse in an emergency room, where the wider problems of the NHS and British society are seen every day.
Cook says that 300–400 patients come to the emergency room during the day. A large number of them would not need urgent treatment, but would have to wait weeks to see a general practitioner. On the other hand, many milder symptoms have time to get worse and require urgent treatment when you can’t get to the doctor’s office in time.
According to Cook, patients who are able to sit in the emergency department easily have to wait more than a day for a bed to become available.
Britain’s social problems, such as inequality and the rising cost of living, are also visible in the emergency room.
– Many people do not heat their homes because they cannot afford it now. Then elderly people come to the emergency room with hypothermia, says Cook.
According to him, the health care overload is the result of much wider problems.
– We have a sick society because not enough has been invested in public health. The resulting symptoms pile up on the NHS, which does not have the resources to treat them.
A message to Finnish nurses
Cook has also been following the ongoing discussion in Finland about overcrowding in emergency rooms and nurses’ industrial action this year. He has a message for his Finnish colleagues.
– It is clear that you are not alone in your situation. Health care and especially nurses are in crisis all over the world. We’ve all been pushed to the limit.
Cook says he is impressed by the unity and determination of Finnish nurses.
– Nurses are used to coping with difficult situations. I believe that we will be able to defend our own rights and thus ultimately also the rights of our patients.
There is still a long battle ahead in Britain, Cook believes. According to him, the strikes will probably not stop here, but will continue in January on an even wider scale.
– I hope there is no need for the strikes to continue, but I believe there is, Cook says.
The general secretary of the nurses’ union announced the same on Tuesday Pat Cullenwho demanded Prime Minister Sunak to come forward in the negotiations, under the threat of continuous and expanding labor struggles.
At least both the trade unions and the government agree on the continuation of the strikes.
On Tuesday, Sunak showed no signs of yielding and said the government would stand by its position. Daily Mail (you will switch to another service) in an interview he too said he believed the NHS strikes could continue for months.
What thoughts does the health care situation in Britain evoke? You can discuss the topic until Thursday 22.12. until 11 p.m.
Source: Reuters