Exhausted, underpaid UK nurses gear up for their biggest strike

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - As British professionals across multiple sectors continue to stage a massive wave of strikes to protest the tightening cost-of-living crisis, upcoming labor action by nurses has stoked more fears than others, shining a spotlight on the country's healthcare system.

In their biggest walkout in the National Health Service's (NHS) history, nurses are set to go on strike on Dec. 15 and Dec. 20 over a pay dispute with the government.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the world's largest nursing union and professional body, said it had been given no choice but to strike after the government said their demand for a 19% pay rise was unaffordable.

Their action will take place this week in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland after talks fell through between the union and the country's health secretary.

Around 100,000 nurses are expected to participate in the strike, though emergency care services will continue.

More than 10,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales will also strike for four days before Christmas.

While these strikes were sparked by the bitter cost-of-living crisis amid soaring inflation, the nurses' walkout is the result of a clear domino effect after a decade of pay erosion and deterioration in the economy, as well as piling workloads triggered partially by Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

- About 47,000 unfilled nurse posts in NHS

According to a study conducted by the London School of Economics, real earnings for nurses have lagged behind employees in other professions in the UK, especially those in the private sector.

"In the private sector, real median earnings fell by 3.2% between 2011 and 2021, while nurses' median earnings diminished by 6%," it said.

As nurses' salaries declined substantially in real terms from 2010-11 to 2021-22, the annual rate of departure for nurses increased from 8.5% to 10.9%, the research showed. The total number of leavers rose from 27,000 to over 38,000 over the period, marking a 42% rise.

Also striking, the study found that about 47,000 NHS nurse positions remained vacant as of June 2022, the highest figure on record.

"Nursing is a highly-skilled, safety-critical profession. Over the last 10 years, nurses in England have seen a real-terms pay cut of almost 20%. But, this strike action is about more than pay," RCN representative Claire Flatt told Anadolu Agency.

There are nearly 50,000 nurse vacancies in England alone, and many experienced nurses are leaving the profession, she explained, adding that workloads were becoming unsustainable, leading to poor care and compromised safety for patients.

"More worryingly, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service has confirmed a 10% drop in the number of students accepted onto nursing courses across the UK this year, perhaps demonstrating students are being put off a career in nursing due to poor pay, poor working conditions, and with the government removing student bursaries in England, nurses will qualify with an excess of £24,000 (nearly $29,500) in student debt."

- Government should focus on more than pay rise

Anadolu Agency also spoke to Maria Kublova, a staff nurse from University College Hospital in London, who said the government should focus not just on paying nurses fairly, but on retaining nurses already in the system, ensuring that they stay longer by showing them greater appreciation.

"I'm just disappointed that the announcement of the strike didn't awaken any discussion with the government because that's what usually happens when you announce a strike, isn't it?"

Despite the widespread strikes across a multitude of sectors, the government has not changed its behavior on the pay dispute, said Kublova. "So hopefully, this walkout will mobilize forces."

- Decline in patient safety, care

A veteran NHS nurse, Pakize Durmaz, explained there was also a huge staff shortage in her profession when she first came to the UK 20 years ago. "Unfortunately, as a country policy, they don't train enough nurses here."

One reason for this, she explained, was that employing more nurses had little appeal and would bear high costs. Hiring a nurse in Britain "costs nearly £30,000-£40,000, while the cost of recruiting a nurse from abroad costs £15,000."

Funding for domestic nurse training has been diminishing steadily in the UK since the 1980s, which is why the NHS has sought to fill this gap with health professionals from the Philippines and India.

But, COVID-19 and its resulting travel restrictions threw a wrench in this process, Durmaz said, adding that many of the more experienced nurses were retiring earlier at 55 over the huge pressure that they were left to shoulder.

Also, many nurses who came from mainland Europe to work in England had returned to their home countries due to Brexit, while those from the Philippines began seeking better pay in the US.

But it's not just the money, according to Durmaz. "What happens when there's a shortage of nurses when the workload increases? You can't provide safe care to patients as you would like and this puts nurses under heavy stress. Nurses are already exhausted, so this causes them to think the government doesn't listen to them and patient safety is also endangered."