In the UK, male and female nurses from the chronically underfunded UK healthcare NHS will go on strike in December. They demanded, among other things, better wages. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) professional association called for strikes for December 15 and 20 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on Friday.
The call to strike – on a scale unprecedented in the last 106 years – demonstrates the depth of the social malaise in Britain, which in recent months has seen strikes across multiple sectors unlike anything seen in decades.
“Nurses are tired of being exploited, underpaid, and having a precarious staff – and tired of not being able to provide patients with the care they deserve,” said RCN general secretary Pat Cullen. . Professional associations accuse politicians of not wanting to negotiate seriously. Negotiations are only agreed in Scotland.
The nurses are demanding a five percent pay increase on top of inflation, which is currently over eleven percent. However, according to UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay, the government’s current difficult financial position makes it impossible to fund it.
In the UK, waiting lists for routine procedures hit record highs in late September. And the situation is also getting worse in the emergency department. October figures show that less than 70 percent of patients are admitted within four hours of admission – the worst figure since records began.
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