news Up to 100,000 nurses to strike in December with threat to escalate action | NHS

Nurses will begin a series of strikes at dozens of hospitals in December – and will escalate their industrial action if ministers keep refusing to negotiate over pay.The Royal

College of Nursing (RCN) announced on Tuesday that up to 100,000 nurses will stay off work at many, but not all, of the hospitals and other NHS bodies where members have voted to

stop work.But the union made clear that it would increase the scale of its industrial action unless Steve Barclay, the health secretary, engages in detailed talks over their demand

for a pay rise of inflation plus 5%.“Ministers have declined my offer of formal pay negotiations and instead chosen strike action. It has left us with no choice but to announce

where our members will be going on strike in December,” said Pat Cullen, the RCN's general secretary and chief executive.The stoppages on 15 and 20 December will severely disrupt

care and services at 53 NHS organizations in England – about half those where the RCN's recent ballot produced a majority of nurses in favor of withdrawing their labour. They

will include major acute hospitals in cities across the country, including Bristol, Liverpool and Birmingham, as well as at specialist cancer, children's and surgical centers and a

number of mental health care providers.Nurses will also strike at 12 of the 13 health boards and other NHS bodies in Wales and at other organizations such as Cardiff University

hospital and the headquarters of the Welsh ambulance service. RCN members will stop work at all 11 NHS bodies in Northern Ireland, which will affect the levels of activity on

strike days at hospitals such as the City, Ulster and Royal Victoria hospitals in Belfast.“The RCN taking industrial action on this scale is extraordinary and shows the strength

of feeling within the profession,” said Prof Alison Leary, the chair of healthcare and workforce modeling at London South Bank University.“The call for strike action is founded

in pay. Nurses have seen the value of their salary decrease significantly over the last 10 years. However, a lot of the motivation around the vote is understaffing. Nurses are

unable to give the care they feel patients need and this is causing moral distress,” she added.NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts in England, urged the RCN and Barclay to

instigate urgent talks to try to find a solution to avert the walkouts.“Everybody wants to avoid prolonged industrial action. We understand how strongly nurses feel and why it

has come to this but the NHS is facing what may be its hardest ever winter, amid severe staff shortages and ever-increasing demand for services,” said Saffron Cordery, its