Responding to health secretary Steve Barclay’s comments on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen said:
“The health secretary’s lack of intention and inability to see the urgency of this situation will trouble every nurse.
“Just an hour after we again urged him to come to the negotiating table to have a detailed, formal discussions on pay and patient safety, he showed no signs of doing so.
“He has finally admitted what we’ve been saying about years of neglect, underinvestment and, as a result, underperformance, but that is not enough.
“This is a key week for health and care. We need ministers to be bold and adopt a radical new position with serious investment in nursing, including fair pay. If governments don’t follow Nicola Sturgeon’s lead in Scotland, we will announce strike dates in December for the rest of the UK.”
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