Nurses Strike

[TartanGirl1]

Do you agree with the nurses strike?

Yes

Yes!
💯

No.

Yes.
We will start seeing manipulation of statistics and average salaries that don't reflect the reality for most.
Some top pay bands are well paid and the averages will include them - but probably not compare them to industry equivalent. They are not ward staff though. NHS staff are substantially worse off than 12 years ago.
Already I notice the statistics being used are for Nurses so pay band five and above but HCAs are not being included yet are in the same pay scheme (AFC) and the pay of bands 2 and 3 are a disgrace.
The biggest issue is we can not recruit- care staff or nurses there are not enough. Until the pay improves this is unlikely to change

Definitely agree. All NHS staff should strike! Anyone who works overtime and for unpaid hours without decent breaks to care for the sick deserve the most respect in society! I am a doctor on mat leave and will be at the picket line with brownies!

Yes

Yes.

This situation could be seen from space. It is the Government's failure to stop this happening and I hold them entirely responsible for putting nurses in this awful position.

Yes

The experience, skills and loyalty of nurses has been taken for granted for too long. Its a life long profession and the backbone of the nhs. They need a fair wage that reflects their contribution.

I also find it disgusting that the government is asking nurses to "consider patient safety". They haven't considered patient safety for the past decade and nurses have been working their socks off for it! Anyone who works in healthcare knows that staffing will probably be better in the emergency settings and wards than it is on a normal day. I've been called many times for the mental health wards to check medications because they have zero nurses on! Someone eventually gets pulled out from a different ward but that is some major understaffing and is so unsafe!

100%

Who wouldn't want well rested, enthusiastic and well paid nurses looking after them or their family when they are ill?

I'd rather not have overworked, unhappy, underpaid people looking after vulnerable people.

Absolutely disgusting for them to say that. Make the nurses out to be the bad guys.

If the government considered patient safety, we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

Yes

Yes. Nurses don't have acceptable working conditions and have been overlooked in pay rises while politicians have not.

No

Yes. I've seen firsthand how hard they work and how taken for granted they are. I will definitely be giving them my full support

It's a yes from me!

Can I ask the nos why they don't agree?

Yes! It's as if your too important to strike but not important enough for a reasonable pay rise and better working conditions!

Yes.

DS2 is a band 6 nurse, he doesn’t earn £35k. When he was 4 he decided he wanted to be a nurse, and it never changed but now he’s thinking of leaving. He came to see us at the weekend and the stories he was telling us was horrific. I really hope I don’t need to go into hospital. It’s not the nurses who are putting patients at risk, it’s the Govt, they have been for years and it can’t go on. This is the absolute last resort for nurses.

I'm not saying no but this is why I'm not automatically yes:

Nurses are absolutely critical for patient care, everyone knows this, and yes it is beyond ridiculous that they are not treated better

So if we all know how important nurses are, it suggests that if they all go on strike, there will be people who suffer and die. I struggle with this, that a strike is worth people's lives.

And you might say, patient care won't suffer because they will bring in extra staff from elsewhere, things will be covered

But if that's the case, then how will the strike have any impact? If absences can just be covered, then how will this pressure the government to do anything?

I feel like the argument for the strike tries to have it both ways, they say nurses are so important the government will have to cave and agree demands, but then at the same time not so important that anyone will suffer if they all disappear for a few days

A week ago I would have disagreed with the strike but now i'm all for it.

As has been said recently, the government CAN afford to give nurses the rises - they can use the money they were paying agency staff for it. Also, the government will save money on universal credit because lots more nurses will be earning more and won't have to rely on universal credit to top up their salaries.

Yes, absolutely.

I will always support industrial action, it's one of the only tools the working classes have in the face of capitalism.

I'm a nurse but not eligible for strike vote/action as not employed directly by the NHS. If I was, I'd be on the picket line.

Yes. They have been telling us how bad things are for years. There are not enough nurses for safe care. They are leaving in droves. It is difficult or impossible to recruit more. They are all out of options.

The government has had a long time to try and address this and has totally failed to do so.

No, absolutely not, and I’ve been a nurse for 24 years.

Yes!