Nursing Crisis: Despair at ‘drip, drip’ of nurse departures

Amanda Smith, an intensive care nurse in the Belfast Trust, is among hundreds of thousands of nurses across the UK who are now preparing to take to the picket lines this winter in the first ever UK-wide strike in the Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) century-long history.

At the centre of negotiations with the government is Pat Cullen, who is originally from Co Tyrone and led the RCN locally during the health strike in Northern Ireland in the winter of 2019/20 before rising to her current role as chief executive of the RCN.

The union is campaigning for an inflation busting pay rise, following what it said was a drop in real-terms income of around 20% for some nurses over the past decade.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay held talks with the Ulster woman yesterday as the government seeks to avert the looming industrial action that will hit operations and appointments.

In a statement following the meeting, the union described the talks as a “cordial introduction” but suggested they did not yet address “the reality that our members have voted to strike” and the core issues the RCN hope to see addressed.

Belfast nurse Amanda Smith, meanwhile, told the News Letter: “We need to send out a message that we value our NHS, we value our nursing staff, and we want to retain our nursing staff. We need to show that we care about our NHS, and we care about our nurses.”

She continued: “Maybe you have an elderly parent who needs to be admitted into hospital, and the nurses in ED are pushed to their absolute limits, and there aren’t enough of them. Your parent could be going into the hospital and there aren’t enough beds.”

She added: “I think addressing the pay issue would be very good at helping to retain people.”