Striking nurses’ pay and conditions responsibility of Welsh Govt, say Tories
Nursing pay and conditions in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Government, Welsh Tories have said as nursing staff across Wales and the UK are to go on strike.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said industrial action will take place in the NHS trusts or health boards – including six in Wales other than Aneurin Bevan – that have met the legal requirements.
This is the first statutory ballot on industrial action across the UK in the 106-year history of the RCN.
Industrial action is expected to begin before the end of this year and the RCN’s mandate to organise strikes runs until early May 2023, six months after members finished voting.
Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust Headquarters, Velindre NHS Trust, Public Health Wales, NHS Shared Services Partnership, and Digital Health and Care Wales have also met the required threshold for strike action.
Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS said: “It is highly regrettable that nurses have decided to go on strike, with all the implications for patients who depend on NHS services, but let there be no doubt that nursing pay and conditions are the responsibility of the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay.
“This will only compound the problems facing the UK’s worst-run NHS as, under Labour, Wales has the longest treatment waiting lists, A&E waiting times, and ambulance response times in the country.
“I would stress that we cannot make the NHS permanently dependent on agency nurses but, in Labour-run Wales, it is already the case, with nurse vacancies going up by a thousand in just the last year, with £134m spent on agency workers.
“I hope the Minister finally engages with the Royal College of Nursing to bring this dispute to an end as swiftly as possible – it is disgraceful that she has avoided doing this so far to the detriment of patients and staff across Wales.”
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I support the strikes. We need our nurses paid….and we need to be able to train our children and also have access to a larger workforce. We need independence and a treaty with the EU. Westminster has trashed and tarnished the reputation of the so-called United Kingdom, even if you wished we could stay as part of it, it is no longer tenable on any measure. It is time to grow up, even if you love everything about The English Establishment System, it is over. They are enacting fascist laws, coming up with ways to deny people the democratic right… Read more »
I have no issue with criticising Welsh Labour, I’ll criticise them harshly when it’s deserved, and there may be valid criticisms of how they’ve managed the NHS.
The fact remains that Westminster decides how much money is spent on the NHS in Wales, and the Senedd just decides how that funding is divvied up.
I absolutely do not believe that this would be happening in Wales if the Senedd had full powers to decide how much money was spent on the NHS.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Don’t rise to it this time Mark Drakeford. Just feel free to laugh at them. They won’t be offended being remotely controllled automaton Westminster plants.
But they’d happily get rid of the Welsh Govt in the name of their singular British Nationalism. Total hypocrites.
The health service is on its knees in all nations of the UK, one thing they all have in common is the tories have overall responsibility on how much money each nation gets, it is the tories who will have blood on their hands again