Saffron Cordery, the interim CEO of NHS Providers, has said that a negotiated solution is needed to stop NHS staff walking out ahead of the onset of normal winter pressures.
Cordery said that the strikes would have a knock-on effect for patient outcomes by making record waits for hospital treatment even longer, despite emergency care not being impacted.
Cordery’s comments come after members of the Royal College of Nursing backed industrial action, with walkouts expected to be staged before the New Year.
Trade unions in England are meeting with government ministers on Tuesday, with health secretary Steve Barclay set to meet representatives of the Royal College of Nursing and other NHS unions including Unison, GMB and Unite.
The latter three unions are currently in the process of voting over whether to strike. If industrial action is taken, it could see paramedics, healthcare assistants, porters and cleaners joining nurses in downing tools.
While ministers are meeting union leaders in England, the strike action from nurses is UK-wide and will affect services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also.
Calling for a negotiated solution to avoid walkouts, Cordery said: “We understand the frustration felt by nurses following years of below-inflation pay settlements, the rising cost-of-living, and working through a pandemic, and we strongly urge both sides in these talks to find a deal that recognises their hard work and skills.
“The last thing the health service needs right now is prolonged industrial action. It's good to see dialogue taking place.”
NHS leaders have expressed concerns over a looming “winter onslaught” with strike action adding to the Covid backlog, routine winter pressures and concerns over the cost-of-living.
Barclay’s meeting with the unions will not come as the start of formal talks over raising salaries, but GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison has warned that it will need to be “more than a box-ticking exercise” to avert strike action over winter.
NHS staff including nurses have already been awarded an average pay rise of 4.75 per cent in line with recommendations from the independent NHS Pay Review Body, on top of a three per cent pay rise in 2021.
However, the Royal College of Nursing is pursuing a pay increase of 17 per cent, which Barclay has warned could exacerbate current inflationary pressures.
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