National Health Service nurses in Britain staged a strike on Thursday, their first ever national walkout, as a bitter dispute with the government over pay ramps up pressure on already-stretched hospitals at one of the busiest times of year.
An estimated 100,000 nurses will strike at 76 hospitals and health centres, cancelling an estimated 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries in Britain’s state-funded NHS.
Britain is facing a wave of industrial action this winter, with strikes crippling the rail network and postal service, and airports bracing for disruption over Christmas.
Inflation running at more than 10%, trailed by pay offers of around 4%, is stoking tensions between unions and employers.
Of all the strikes though, it will be the sight of nurses on picket lines that will be the stand-out image for many Britons this winter.
“What a tragic day. This is a tragic day for nursing, it is a tragic day for patients, patients in hospitals like this, and it is a tragic day for people of this society and for our NHS,” Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, said to the BBC on a picket line on Thursday.
The widely admired nursing profession will shut down parts of the NHS, which since its founding in 1948 has developed national treasure status for being free at the point of use, hitting healthcare provision when it is already stretched in winter and with backlogs at record levels due to COVID delays.
Health minister Steve Barclay said it was deeply regrettable that the strike was going ahead.
“I’ve been working across government and with medics outside the public sector to ensure safe staffing levels – but I do remain concerned about the risk that strikes pose to patients,” he said.
Barclay said patients should continue to seek urgent medical care and attend appointments unless they have been told not to.
