Keir Starmer repeatedly refuses to criticise nurses who will walk out on strike tonight leaving minimal cover in accident and emergency units as Labour leader says he understands why they are walking out
- The Labour leader was given repeated opportunities to comment on RCN strike
- Only limited exemption to walkouts for children’s units like Great Ormond Street
Sir Keir Starmer today refused to criticise nurses who will walk out on strike tonight leaving minimal accident and emergency cover.
The Labour leader was given repeated opportunities to comment on the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) strike that starts at 8pm tonight.
NHS organisations across the country are braced for significant disruption as nurses prepare to stage a 28-hour strike over pay.
The union initially said it would not agree to derogations – broad areas of care where staffing is guaranteed despite industrial action – but has now granted limited exemptions, including for units caring for children.
Speaking to Sky News’ Ridge on Sunday today he simply said he did not want strikes to happen and would not comment specifically on the lack of cover.
‘I don’t want these strikes to go ahead, I don’t think anyone does,’ he told the broadcaster.
‘The way to avoid strikes is to get in the room with the nurses and resolve these issues…
‘I can quite understand the pressures bearing down on nurses, doctors and those who work on the railways because wages have been stagnant for over a decade, living standards haven’t gone up and bills have gone up everywhere because there is an underlying structural problem here which is that we haven’t grown the economy.’
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: ‘It will clearly put patients at risk.’ But RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: We have put national exemptions in place and our nurses will never leave their patients unsafe or create more risk than is already in the system at this time.’
The Labour leader was given repeated opportunities to comment on the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) strike that starts at 8pm tonight.
The RCN will hold industrial action from 8pm on Sunday until 11.59pm on Monday night after voting to reject the latest Government offer. A High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the RCN strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: ‘It will clearly put patients at risk.’
But RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: We have put national exemptions in place and our nurses will never leave their patients unsafe or create more risk than is already in the system at this time.’
The RCN will hold industrial action from 8pm on Sunday until 11.59pm on Monday night after voting to reject the latest Government offer.
A High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the RCN strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.
Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is among organisations where nurses have agreed to derogations after it voiced ‘serious concerns’ about patient safety during the walkout.
The hospital said it was ‘incredibly grateful’ to RCN members but took the decision not to stand down a ‘business continuity incident’ it had previously declared until it was confident it could staff its services over the strike.
Health workers across the NHS have gone on strike several times in past months in disputes over pay and conditions.
Unions including Unison and the GMB have voted in favour of a Government pay offer to end the strikes, while Unite and the RCN have voted against.
RCN general secretary Pat Cullen defended the strike and said cancelled medical appointments were not just the result of industrial action.
NHS England is urging the public to use the health service wisely.
It said emergency and urgent care would remain the priority, with people asked to use other services such as pharmacies and 111 where possible.
Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and are the biggest proportion of the health service workforce.
NHS England warned that staffing levels for some areas of the country will be ‘exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days’.
It added the number of rescheduled appointments due to strike action is set to hit half a million next week.
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