All the hospitals hit by nurses’ strike TODAY in pay battle – picket lines map
Thousands of nurses will go on strike for the second time in a week from 8am today after bully-boy Tories refused to reopen talks over pay.
Hard-working medics are on their first nationwide walkout for 106 years after rejecting a 4.75% salary rise – way below inflation.
They have set a Friday deadline for Tory ministers to reopen pay talks, otherwise they will announce new, more severe strikes in January.
And woe will worsen tomorrow when paramedics in three other unions walk out in several regions, leaving some people to be taken to A&E in a taxi.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen demanded Tory ministers help “get this wrapped up by Christmas”.
“I will negotiate with [Rishi Sunak] at any point to stop nursing staff and patients going into the new year facing such uncertainty,” she said.
“But if this government isn’t prepared to do the right thing, we’ll have no choice but to continue in January and that will be deeply regrettable.”
Scroll down for a map and full list of strike locations.
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Hesther Ng/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)
At a hospital yesterday, Health Secretary Barclay demanded unions come up with a full plan to ensure lives will be protected during the paramedic strike.
But Unite leader Sharon Graham warned Steve Barclay will “have to carry the can if patients suffer” and unions will not “blink first” to break the deadlock.
“It’s Steve Barclay who is holding the country to ransom,” she told The Mirror.
Rishi Sunak said “our door is always open” – but warned “these things are difficult” on pay.
It comes after the Health Secretary was blasted at a child’s hospital bed by a mum who told him she was “scared” for her three-year-old daughter’s future.
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PA)
She told him “the damage you’re doing to families like myself is terrible… I know you look and we’re all numbers but actually we’re people waiting for care.”
In a heartbreaking admission, Ms Pinnington-Auld added: “I’m so scared about my daughter’s future, thinking about what you guys might do to the NHS and what that means in exact terms for the length of her life.
“If you don’t prioritise the NHS I don’t know what chance she has at a longer life.”
Rishi Sunak said last night: “I’m really disappointed to see that the unions are calling these strikes, particularly at Christmas.
“Particularly when it has such an impact on people’s day-to-day lives with the disruption it causes and the impact on their health.
“I would urge them to keep considering whether these strikes are really necessary and do everything they can to alleviate the impact it’s going to have on people.”
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Henry Nicholls/AP/REX/Shutterstock)
But RCN chief Ms Cullen said: “The Prime Minister should ask himself what is motivating nursing staff to stand outside their hospitals for a second day so close to Christmas.
“They are prepared to sacrifice a day’s pay to have their concerns heard.
“Their determination stems as much from worries over patient safety and the future of the NHS than personal hardship.
“Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure in Westminster following last Thursday’s strike and he should listen to people around him.”
Because each NHS Trust is an individual workplace, strikes had to be voted for hospital-by-hospital.
That means not every hospital in England and Wales has nurses on strike on December 20. Some were only on strike on December 15. Others are striking on both dates.
So volunteers at the website strikemap.co.uk have pulled together a complete list of all the workplaces that are going on strike.
STRIKE MAP WIDGET: Enter your postcode below and hit the READ MORE button to see the nearest hospital to you where nurses are going on strike
You can use it to see where there might be disruption at your local hospital – or simply to join a picket line in solidarity.
The full map covers other walkouts in other industries, including the railways, paramedics and postal workers.
Search the map above – or see the full list of NHS trusts where nurses are going on strike on each date below.
England
East Midlands
Eastern
London
North West
Northern
South East
South West
West Midlands
Yorkshire & Humber
National employers
Northern Ireland
- Belfast Health and Social Care Trust – 15 December
- Northern Health and Social Care Trust – 15 December
- Western Health and Social Care Trust – 15 December
- Southern Health and Social Care Trust – 15 December
- South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust – 15 December
- Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council
- Business Services Organisation
- Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority
- Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service
- Public Health Agency
- Northern Ireland Ambulance Service