Great Ormond Street warns sick kids are at risk during Bank Holiday nursing strike as GMB accepts same pay deal that union behind the upcoming NHS walk-out rejected
- GSOH bosses begged union behind upcoming walk-out to agree exemptions
- Royal College of Nursing will strike from 8pm on April 30 to 23.59pm on May 1
Sick children will be at risk during the Bank Holiday nurses’ strike, Great Ormond Street Hospital warned today.
In a desperate plea to protect ill kids being treated on the premises, bosses of the world-renowned site begged the union behind the upcoming walk-out to agree to safety exemptions.
Mat Shaw, chief executive, said: ‘We have serious concerns over how we will safely staff our hospital during the strike.’
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) officials had scheduled a 48-hour strike in England from 8pm on April 30 to 8pm on May 2 in an escalation of its ongoing pay row with ministers. They have since been forced to call off action on the final day after being told it was ‘unlawful’ in a historic legal fight with the Government.
Nurses will walk out of A&E, intensive care and cancer wards for the first time in the increasingly bitter dispute, sparking fears of carnage across the NHS.
It comes as members of the GMB today voted to accept the Government’s pay offer to health workers.
In a desperate plea to protect ill kids being treated on the premises, bosses of the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital begged the union behind the upcoming walk-out to agree to safety exemptions
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has been accused by union officials of bullying nurses (pictured on April 25)
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, confirmed that the union would no longer strike on May 2 following a historic High Court ruling yesterday. It will, however, continue with the planned action on April 30 and May 1
The deal, which ministers have insisted is final, amounts to a one-off bonus for last year and an extra 5 per cent for the upcoming one.
Tens of thousands of the union’s health workers were balloted on the offer. Fifty-six per cent voted to accept, with a turn-out of just over half.
Members of other unions, including Unison and the Royal College of Midwives, have also accepted the offer.
Earlier, Unite announced that its members in the NHS had voted to reject the same offer.
RCN members also rejected the deal, prompting it to announce its upcoming strike.
The GMB will vote to accept the offer at a key meeting of the NHS Staff Council next week.
It could pave the way for the pay rise to be implemented, with the majority of unions thought to leant in the same direction.
Yet, the Health Service Journal reports it is unclear whether this would revolve the dispute.
GMB national officer Rachel Harrison said: ‘This new offer would not have happened without the strike action taken by ambulance and other GMB health workers.
More than 500,000 NHS appointments and operations in England have been cancelled as a result of staff striking over pay
‘GMB members have voted to accept the offer, which means GMB union will vote in favour of the pay offer at the NHS joint staff council meeting next week.
‘Our members recognise progress has been made – from the Government originally offering nothing, health workers will be thousands of pounds better off.
‘It also meets a key GMB demand of a huge pay uplift for the lowest paid, lifting them above the Real Living Wage.’
She added: ‘But so much more needs to be done for workers if we are all to get the NHS we need.
‘GMB now needs action for our ambulance members – starting by addressing their retirement and unsocial hours enhancement concerns.
‘Today is just one step in the battle to restore NHS workers’ decade of lost earnings.
‘GMB will continue this fight, so that the NHS and ambulance workers, who serve and care for the public, finally get the fair deal they deserve.’
Fears have been raised over the knock-on effects of the strike, the worst organised by the RCN yet.
Mr Shaw, chief executive of GSOH, said: ‘We respect the right of our staff to take part in lawful industrial action.
‘But, after exhausting all options, at the moment we have serious concerns over how we will safely staff our hospital during the strike.
‘There is nothing more important than the safety of our patients.
‘These children have no voice in the debate and we must protect them. We urgently need safety exemptions for our intensive care units and other areas of the hospital.’
Where will nurses strike on April 30?
The RCN has said the 48-hour, no exceptions walkout will be held at the following NHS workplaces in England.:
East Midlands
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB
NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Eastern
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
NHS Mid and South Essex ICB
NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB
NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk Community Health and Care
NHS Trust Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
London
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS North Central London ICB
NHS South West London ICB
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
North West
Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
Northern
Country Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust
North of England Commissioning Support (NECS)
North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
South East
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Kent and Medway ICB
NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
South East Coast Ambulance Service
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Solent NHS Trust
South Central Ambulance Services NHS Foundation Trust
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
South West
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB
NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
NHS Dorset ICB (One Dorset)
NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)
North Bristol NHS Trust
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
West Midlands
Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
Midlands and Lancashire CSU
Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB)
NHS Black Country ICB
Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Yorkshire and the Humber
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
NHS North West Yorkshire ICB
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
National employers
Health Education England
NHS Blood and Transplant
NHS England NHS Resolution
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