Historic vote

Taking such vital staff out of an already-struggling system is not without challenge and the details about how the action will be taken are being finalised.

Meanwhile, Pat Cullen, our Chief Executive and General Secretary, has now been invited to talks with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Steve Barclay, which will continue as we finalise our strike action plans. 

We know that now the vote has been cast our members will be very anxious about what form the action will take, and the protection of patient care. Please be reassured that information will be available soon and will be disseminated to all members by email and social media. For the latest information bookmark our Fair Pay For Nursing webpages. 

We cannot continue to soak up the increases to utility bills, fuel, transport, food, mortgages, rent, interest rates and inflation – now we must act. No working person should have to visit food banks, in fact NO ONE should have to rely on them in a county as rich as ours. By taking this action we are standing up for what is right and just and never doubt we are doing so for the interests of our patients, the long-term future of the profession and NHS.  

But this vote is not just about our wages, it is about staffing for safe and effective care. No member of the nursing workforce should go to work terrified, wondering if they will have enough staff on shift to give safe, dignified care to patients. Nursing must be paid a fair wage to attract people to the profession and to keep nursing staff nursing. Some of our members are on the lower bands, staff vital to the nursing team and to safe patient care, but who are often some of the lowest paid staff in the NHS. We cannot keep losing good people to other industries that have increased wages. 

We are also doing this for the future nursing workforce. Our students suffer terribly financially as they juggle placement and university timetables with the costs of tuition fees, transport costs and the overall cost of living, while not having enough time left in the week to undertake paid work to support themselves through their studies. This cannot continue and now is the time to take a stand. 

I realise that this ballot was taken for those employed directly by Annex one NHS employers but we absolutely acknowledge the hardship our members also suffer in the independent sector and private organisations that provide NHS services. This is for you too. 

It’s important that we remember that this situation has not been created by nursing staff; responsibility for this situation lies squarely at the feet of this government. When the question ‘how this can be funded’ is asked, the answer is that there is money, we are one of the richest countries in the world. How that money is spent is a political decision.   

I am immensely proud of the vote in the South West, of members determination to stand up for themselves, their profession and their patients and I will be out there with you on the picket line.  

Thank you all 

Geoffrey Walker, Council representative, RCN South West