Sunday shows round-up: strikes show no sign of stopping

Pat Cullen – respect nursing, or strikes could continue ‘until Christmas’

This morning’s shows heavily focussed on the crisis in the NHS, after the Royal College of Nursing voted against the government’s pay deal, meaning further strike action. The RCN’s General Secretary Pat Cullen stood by her union’s members, telling Laura Kuenssberg that patients were at risk at all times due to the working conditions of nurses and doctors, not just on strike days. She said only ministers could stop strikes, and that they needed to return with an improved offer:

Greg Hands – ‘it’s a very fair and reasonable offer’

Defending the government, Conservative Party Chair Greg Hands was vague on what further steps would be taken while they waited for the results from all the unions, but he was keen to stress that the RCN leadership, including Pat Cullen herself, had initially recommended the deal to its members, and that the vote had only narrowly gone against it:

Wes Streeting – ‘deeply worried’ about patient safety

One of the concerning aspects of the dispute is the possibility that nurses will expand their action to remove protections for emergency and cancer care, potentially creating further risk for patients.