Another day, another strike. Nurses are walking out today and tomorrow, with the Royal College of Nursing vowing to ‘keep going’ with industrial action until ministers compromise on pay demands. Ambulance workers will also announce further strike dates today.
Barclay and colleagues are acutely aware that they aren’t winning in this war of attrition
Strikes have become part of the wallpaper in Britain recently, but what is troubling for ministers is that the state of the health service more widely is causing more angst than health workers joining picket lines. Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay is still engaging with them on the basis that their pay demands are ‘unaffordable’ and would require cuts elsewhere in the health service. This is because any pay increases will have to be met out of the Department for Health and Social Care’s existing budget.
Barclay has reportedly been in a stand-off with the Treasury over this, with some claiming he has accepted that nurses should be paid more.
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