Pickets at the Conquest
By Paul McLaughlin
Nurses from the Conquest Hospital in Hastings joined with their colleagues in 55 NHS trusts across England last Wednesday (18 January) to strike as part of the Royal College of Nursing’s on-going dispute over their pay and conditions.
A large and lively group of nurses formed a picket line outside the hospital on The Ridge. Despite the bitterly cold day the public warmth towards the nursing staff was apparent. Conversations were hard to hear because of the regular and noisy honking of horns by passing motorists in support of their cause.
Antonia Berelson, a Specialist Nurse at the hospital and RCN organiser, said she, like all nurses, regretted having to take industrial action but said it was “necessary to force the UK government to open formal negotiations on the below-inflation NHS pay award” for this financial year. She said responsibility for the disruption lay firmly at the feet of ministers and the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, who has “so far refused to take part in serious talks, choosing strikes instead”. His inaction was nothing short of “political negligence” which was threatening the very future of the NHS.
Annemarie Powell, a Stroke Rehabilitation Sister, was equally scornful of the government’s response to the unfolding crisis. She said she felt “betrayed” by ministers who had been quick to praise her and her colleagues during the Covid-19 pandemic, leading the weekly round of applause for key workers, but then quickly turned their backs when things returned to normal. She said it was a “political choice” to under-fund the NHS and not to pay nursing staff fairly. Visibly angry, she said: “people aren’t dying because nurses are striking. Nurses are striking because people are dying. That is how severe things are in the NHS, and it is time the Prime Minister led a fight for its future.”
Vicky Payne, a Critical Care Nurse said she and her colleagues were fully committed to the strike action, adding that a “significant pay rise was the only way to help tackle chronic staff shortages and enable the NHS to recruit and retain the nursing staff it desperately needs.”
This sentiment was shared by Jess Austen, who said the record number of unfilled nursing jobs meant more work and stress for those nurses who stayed on the wards. “Things cannot afford to get any worse. We need to pay nursing staff fairly to turn this around and give the public the care they deserve, otherwise things will continue to get worse. More nurses will burn out, and many more will simply leave the profession, putting even more stress on those of us who remain.”
A posse of government ministers took to the airwaves to express “regret” at the strike action, but none offered any solutions for its resolution. In response, the RCN General Secretary, Pat Cullen, warned: “if progress isn’t made by the end of January to resolve the dispute, we’ve said our strike action will be escalated on 6 and 7 February to include members at 73 NHS trusts in England and all but one NHS employer in Wales.”
Monday 6 February is shaping up to be a decisive day in the on-going dispute and for NHS a day of massive disruption, with strike action not just by nurses but ambulance staff, also in an unprecedented coordinated walkout. NHS leaders are warning that hospitals will grind to a halt as doctors and nurses from other departments are redeployed to provide emergency cover in strike-hit A&E units.
In addition to the unrest within the NHS, further strikes are promised by train drivers, Border Force workers, driving examiners, baggage handlers at airports and senior civil servants. The National Education Union representing teachers has become the latest group to vote for industrial action, with the promise of seven days of strike action in February and March. They and other unions have also declared Wednesday 1 February as a National Day of Action. As part of this campaign, Hastings and District TUC will hold a march from the Pier to the town centre in Hastings.
This winter of discontent shows no signs of easing.
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