The walkout in England and Wales on 6 February is set to be the biggest yet in this NHS pay dispute.
Ambulance workers are to join nurses in taking strike action on 6 February in England and Wales in what will be the biggest NHS walkout in this dispute.
The GMB announced four new stoppages for ambulance staff – one of which coincides with a nurses’ strike date.
It is the first time both ambulance staff and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) have acted on the same day.
It comes as RCN members are taking part in two days of strikes on Wednesday and Thursday this week.
What patients need to know on Wednesday
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GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “Ambulance workers are angry. In their own words ‘they are done’.
“Our message to the government is clear – talk pay now.”
The walkouts by staff including paramedics, call handlers and support workers in seven of the 10 English ambulance services along with the national Welsh service will take place on 6 and 20 February, and 6 and 20 March.
On Monday, the RCN set 6 and 7 February as the dates for its biggest strike to date, involving more than a third of services in England and all but one health board in Wales.
Under trade union laws, both unions will have to provide emergency cover.
But it raises the prospect of urgent 999 calls for falls not being responded to, and a huge chunk of pre-planned hospital care such as hernia repair, hip replacements or outpatient clinics not being done.
The call to get round the negotiating table was echoed by RCN general secretary Pat Cullen as her members walked out on Wednesday for the third time this winter.
“I am saying to the prime minister today, he can continue to have strikes if he continues to dig into his trenches.
“We have extended an olive branch, in fact the whole tree, to government. We’ve said meet us halfway, so now come on.”
‘I won’t strike – but I back the fight’
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Clint Cooper, a nurse for nearly 30 years, will cross the picket line on Wednesday to work on a heart-care ward at Scarborough Hospital, in North Yorkshire, while fully supporting his striking colleagues.
“I believe in the principle of what my colleagues are doing,” he says, “but I voted ‘No’, as I cannot walk out and leave my patients.
‘Last week, I had two patients who were very poorly and I wonder if I hadn’t been there and escalated it, would they still be alive, if I had walked out – that’s my conscience talking to me.”
Nevertheless, the government needs to find the money for a bigger pay rise, Mr Cooper says.
‘I’m a Tory voter – I have voted for them at every election apart from one – but I can’t vote for them again,” he says. “The NHS is in crisis.
‘This is not just about pay, it is about the future of the NHS. Nurses don’t want clapping. They want the resources to do their job. They are highly skilled and they are the backbone of the NHS.’
Both unions have asked for above-inflation rises.
But the governments in England and Wales have given NHS staff an average of 4.75%, with everyone guaranteed at least £1,400 – as recommended by the independent NHS Pay Review Body.
That is less than half the rate of inflation, although latest figures show the rate at which prices are rising has started to slow.
Meanwhile, patients are being warned to expect widespread disruption to services on Wednesday and Thursday because of the RCN walkout.
One out of every four hospitals and community services are affected by the strikes from 08:00 to 20:00 GMT.
But GP practices will run as normal, because nurses working in those services are not involved in the strike action.
Saffron Cordery of NHS Providers, which represents NHS services, said the scale of the walkout and the fact it was over two consecutive days meant it would probably have “greater impact”.
“We’re expecting widespread disruption,” she said. “It will be felt on the day as well in the days that follow.”
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, warned that without a pay deal patients would face the effects of a “prolonged war of attrition between the government and the unions”.
But the government has made it clear it is not willing to move on this year’s pay award.
However, one option being explored by Health Secretary Steve Barclay is backdating the 2023-24 rise to January. It would normally kick in in April.
This has already been tabled in Scotland, leading to NHS strikes being halted for further negotiations – although staff there received a 7.5% pay rise this year.
But the Treasury has not agreed to the idea.
Physios and ambulance members at Unison and Untie will also be striking in parts of England and Wales next week.
Mr Barclay said he had had “constructive talks” with NHS unions and looked forward to continuing the dialogue.
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