Would you support a nurses strike?

[VirtueClapper83]

If there’s any truth (little probably) in the headlines, 40000 nurses left the profession last year for better paid jobs/retirement. There can’t be any substantially significant net gain to the profession. Would you support strike action as we’re about to be balloted for it?

Primary care seems to be something of a thing of history these days. To see a GP? You'd be quicker getting an appointment with King Charles!

You literally have no idea. GPs have been treated terribly by this government, and have become the scapegoat of the NHS, are seeing hundreds of patients a day who are increasing in complexity, work such ridiculous hours and overtime that they all have to say they work part time, because a 3 day a week job actually means they are already working 50+ hours a week.

People will die eitherr way at this stage.

My daughter is a nurse, though now in the education side, and I also work in the NHS community services. The pay is utterly dire where I am, her pay significantly better than ward based nursing.

I back any strike, though I am torn.

Nurses have the shittiest jobs, generally even shittier managers (personal experiences) and no financial compensation either.

Any nurse who is passionate about her job, will eventually be worn down by the very thing they love, helping people, because they don't have the resources to do the very thing they signed up for.

Absolutely

Quite unlike you, clearly. My FIL was a GP. He worked 16 hour days. Volunteered for the C-19 vaccination programme, helped as many folk as he could. Killed himself 6 months ago. So don't dare tell me GPs aren't doing enough.

You know how many patients have killed themselves in the UK this year? Your father was not alone.

Ok, so who's to blame then? China? Wuhan? Truss? Boris? Covid? GPs? Nurses? Doctors? The NHS? WHO RUNS THE NHS? Why are there 6 ambulances parked outside A&E for hours with a patient as there is no doctor to see them? There's nobody to take their bloods? There are no doctors to interpret them.
While an ambulance is stuck for 6 hours outside A&E, there are calls going through to 999 and not getting answered and 2 nights ago I waited 11 minutes to get through to the 999 ambulance service!

I wouldn't be so daring as to pretend to know why your FIL killed himself and I suggest that you don't presume either.

I know why my FIL killed himself, because reading his final letter will stay with me for the rest of my life, I had to hold my husband, my MIL, the rest of the family up. The NHS is on it's knees. Ambulances can't offload patients because there isn't any staff to receive them. There isn't any staff to receive them because the NHS is suffering from nationwide burnout. Nobody else would accept being forced to work 19/20 hour days. Fuck the tories, and fuck burnout healthcare staff.

No, and I'm a nurse. And I don't know any of my colleagues who would go on strike either.

Nurses get paid very well in America with favourable hours but too many are simply nearing retirement age and not enough are being trained up. Perhaps the same effect in the UK?

Not according to the conversation between the paramedics. There is an abundance of qualified nurses but they can't get a job!

Do you have any idea how long it takes to get an appointment with your GP? Where I live, it's about 2 weeks and it's only a telephone appointment (in the meantime, if you've managed to not croak, you'll probably have required a trip to A&E).

General Practice is utterly ridiculous. It's a shambles!

Try getting a GP appointment for either a persistent problem or an acute problem. You simply can't.

Yes I would support it

“until they think they can get away with selling it all to American healthcare companies.”

“🙄 What a load of codswallop.”

It’s not codswallop. The Tories haven’t exactly been subtle with their selling off of services to private healthcare providers, many of them US owned and based.

But it’s only the easy to provide / profitable services. None of the private companies want to run A&E departments, for instance. And none of them want to take on the costs of taking a NQ doctor through his or her training - they all rely on staff who’ve gained their experience in the NHS. More profit for them that way.

As for the original question, I hope those nurses that feel they can strike do take action. Nurse pay has been cut, in real terms, over successive years and with food inflation at over 10% and overall inflation not much lower, it’s going to be even more of a shitshow for them.

Yes I would support a nurses strike.

Contrary to government messaging that "the money is there, but not being used effectively"

It is clear we have massive shortages across the NHS, including doctors, nurses ,gp's,paramedics, other healthcare specialists, exacerbated by brexit and burn out from the pandemic.

The government exploits the compassion of people working in the NHS and happily tapped into pro NHS sentiment in recent years. If they can find billions for furlough, far more for shitty ppe, contracts for their donors, massive tax rises, currency bailouts that result then they can find money for public workers who as many have pointed out keep people alive.

The Tories don't want to I expect because they see it as "big government". NHS dentistry is pretty much gone already.

I'd never have considered until recently that any party would dare pull the plug on the NHS but truss and her cronies will totally attempt to privatise it and switch to an Insurance based system.

Then we really will see people die....

People are dying now because conditions are so bad that drs and nurses are leaving in large numbers

I would say strike. Its got to the point where its so awful - something has to be done. It's deteriorating so badly - staff are becoming traumatised by their jobs.

I'm not a nurse (but work in Healthcare). Staff are fire fighting every day. The nhs is full of beaurocracy, duplication and antiquated processes that put even more time pressures on the few staff we have left.

No I completely understand but again, your emotion is getting in the way and is exactly what's ensuring that you get trodden on continuosly.

Your unions basically suck if, after all these years, nurses continue to be overworked, abused and underpaid.

So are you suggesting that if no-one turned up to take over, you'd carry on for 24, 36, 48 hours? I doubt it.

Management need to understand that working over your contracted hours should be the exception, not the norm. But your excuse is exactly what's perpetuating the abusive cycle. That's what you don't seem to understand.

I hope we strike. For years it has been impossible to staff a ward and so often short staffing/agency heavy staffing leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to deaths.

It will happen strategically. Services will be partly run by agency, nurse managers will be pulled onto wards and all non urgent care will be cancelled/rescheduled. People might die but the status quo has already resulted in a service which is unsafe.

Those saying we shouldn't- the only alternative is to cope with intolerable conditions or leave nursing, and the current situation of people leaving nursing en masse will absolutely cause deaths.

100% yes.

Its time.

People are dying now. There are NO nurses.

The situation is absolutely horrific.

It’s not just the lack of nurses, or other valuable NHS staff. It’s the appropriate skill mix that also ensures safe care.

I’m the most experienced nurse specialist in my team, cancer services. I’ve had 2 nurses quit in the past month, one burnt out and leaving the profession, the other going to a job with a higher banding. We are a small team. It takes easily a couple of years for a nurse to get the specialist qualifications and experience to practice safely, and they are mentored and monitored throughout before sign out. The more who leave, the worse the pressure for others. Our job is so specialist, there are no bank staff. Anywhere.

At the same time, we are being forced to provide cover to other areas.Not wards, but any space where our Trust can stick a few beds, and put some nurses into look after them. It was branded as an overflow ward, only to be used when the hospital was full, and the patients moved there close to discharge. This is now virtually a permanent fixture.Patients are often high needs, high dependency, in a ‘ward’ with one loo,one wash basin….it was never built as a ward. Staff are putting their registration on the line as they not a proper ward team, and have little back up. Matrons just come in and say get in with it. Five members of staff complained to the Chief Exec, who came down from his office to say it has to be done to keep the hospital open.If the hospital closes to admissions, we get fined .If a target is not met, we get fined. Less money, more demand.

Nurses are concerned about safety and care. Its not as simple as a nurse can nurse anywhere. The best and safest care is achieved by having appropriately experienced nurses to care for a patient. That’s what I’d want for my loved ones, that’s why I’m backing the strike, my patients deserve better.
As for pay, I can earn, on short term contract, £2000 for a weekend’s work in my related field. I’m not saying I should get the equivalent in my current contract, but a rise that reflects the responsibility of modern nursing is overdue.

A pay rise is well over due

i refuse to work in NHS ward due to the terrible conditions so only work in local hospice. I have 12 years experience in palliative care. Over 20 years nursing experience. I have a degree and post graduate degree. I had to leave my permanent band 6 job as my flexible working request was denied and my job couldn’t fit in with my childcare demands.

I’m embarrassed to say I get paid £12.38 per hour on the bank. I love my palliative care work and I love being a nurse but It’s demoralising, embarrassing and fast becoming not worth the constant stress, responsibilities and work to revalidate. So tired of not being recognised for my experience and hard work.