Nurses at Scarborough Hospital walk out as part of national strike action

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) at Scarborough Hospital are involved in the strike action taking place on January 18 and 19.

The RCN is calling for a pay rise of 19 per cent as it says that since 2010 nurses have faced a real terms pay cut of up to 20 per cent

However, the Government has said that the claim is unaffordable and has stood by the recommendations of the independent pay review body which offered an increase of £1,400.

Today (January 18) dozens of RCN members from Scarborough Hospital attended a picket line at the end of Woodlands Drive, leading up to the hospital’s A&E unit where staff have recently faced some of the biggest pressures.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Justina, a staff nurse at Scarborough Hospital’s A&E department said she was on strike for her colleagues and better pay but “especially for patient safety”.

She said: “What is going on is absolutely atrocious and dangerous. There’s no safety and you come home crying because you’ve done as much as you can, but it’s horrible.

“Patients are waiting for beds for 25 hours, sometimes more which isn’t safe. We’re short on staff and working wherever and sometimes on my 12-hour shift I don’t even go to the toilet. I love my job, but I didn’t sign up for this.”

She added: “We have to fight because if not, it’s going to be the end of that and then what are we going to do, go private? Good luck with that.”

Though the general feeling among those attending was that they did not want to be on strike, they said they would do so again if the Government did not agree to further negotiations.

Further strikes announced for February

The RCN has announced further strikes for February 6 and 7 but has indicated it would be willing to call off the industrial action if the Government meets it “halfway”.

Joel Shea, a member of the RCN who has worked for the NHS since 2004, said he was on strike “for many reasons” including pay and understaffing.

Mr Shea, originally from Canada, said: “Pay is one of the reasons because people on lower bands such as myself barely make a living wage.

“But it’s not just about that, it’s that places have gone vacant across the NHS which should have been filled with people that can do a good job and take care of people. One of the reasons that care is suffering is things such as outsourcing and short staffing.”

While emergency care will continue during the strike and patients have been told to attend their appointments at the hospital unless advised to do otherwise, the Trust that runs the hospital urged the public to “consider using appropriate, alternative, services” where possible.

A spokesperson for the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “The Trust has robust plans in place to manage the impact of any industrial action which ensures we can continue to deliver safe care for our patients.

“To do this, our staff and union representatives have worked together to put in place extensive procedures and processes which focus on maintaining essential services, although these may be staffed differently and there may be delays or other changes for patients.”

‘We have to do this’

In addition to the RCN members taking part in the picket, members of the public also turned up.

Jean, a 77-year-old Scarborough resident said: “I’m here to support the NHS and the nurses. I didn’t go out and clap because I knew exactly what was going to happen later.

“I’m here as an activist to support the NHS which has supported me and my family all our lives.”

Keith Neil, who has worked at Scarborough Hospital for 11 years, said that when he started “it wasn’t as stressful".

He said: “Right now, the atmosphere around the hospital is really low and the morale is really low around staff… it’s one of the best jobs I’ve ever had but we just need a bit more to get us by.”

“Our pay rise this year was pointless because it was all taken off in tax, so I was £22 better off, which isn’t saying a lot.

Hazel Kavanaugh, who came to work for the NHS from Ireland in 1990, described the mood at the picket line as “very emotional” with “quite a few tears”.

However, she said she was still feeling hopeful: “You have to be hopeful and have a light at the end of the tunnel.

“We went through a very, very difficult time with Covid and we got through that. We have a lot of resilience and we have to do this.”