“I don’t know it you’ve been told, the NHS is being sold,” chanted nurses outside Ipswich hospital this afternoon.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RNC) have taken to the picket lines in the highest intensity strike in the union’s history.
The RNC has called on the government for a 19% pay rise, although it has indicated that it would be willing to negotiate.
However, nurses on the picket line outside Ipswich hospital all agreed that it was patient safety that had brought them out today.
“I have been a nurse for 30 years, and I never thought I’d see the day when I went on strike,” said Judith Battersbee, an oncology specialist nurse. “But the NHS is being pulled apart. It’s very sad to see.”
“People think of nursing as mopping brows,” added Cheryl Yilaz, a clinical nurse specialist. “But it is a very technical career.
“We are true professionals and this is not reflected in our pay.”
“Good will is starting to wear thin,” said Karen Williams, regional officer for the RCN.
“Patients are not dying because nurses are on strike. Nurses are on strike because patients are dying.”
A group of five senior nurses worked out that between them, they have worked almost 150 years for the NHS.
“The changes we are calling for will not benefit us, but the next generation of nurses,” said one trauma and orthopedic nurse, who asked to remain anonymous.
“We want there to be people to take care of us when we are old. At the moment, that’s looking unlikely.”
Pat Cullen, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN arrived at 4pm to greet the nurses, and told them they were doing “absolutely fantastically”.
She said : “I have called on the prime minister to choose talk over strikes.” She added that she believed the prime minister had already made some “courageous” decisions, and that now was the time to show that same courage to addressing the pay of nurses.
Neill Moloney is deputy chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust.
He said: “Plans are in place for us to be able to provide safe care while nursing colleagues are on the picket lines.
“We are very grateful to our staff for all they do for our patients every day and we respect their right to strike.
“Pay is a matter for the Government and the trade unions and we hope they can find a resolution as soon as possible.”
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