Industrial Action: The professional view of the Shelford Group Chief Nurses
We speak ahead of the RCN strike action on 6th and 7th February as the professional leaders of nursing in ten of the largest research and teaching hospitals in England. Our organisations collectively employ over 57,000 nursing and midwifery staff.
Our message is that – for the sake of our patients and our profession – industrial action needs swift resolution.
The role and contribution of nursing
Nursing is fundamental to all the goals of a functioning health and care system, from preventing ill-health, to managing acute illness, to getting people back to health. The range and breadth of nursing work, and the skills and expertise of the profession, are too often not fully understood. Right now, in communities and hospitals across the country, nurses are leading vaccination programmes, supporting people in their homes to live independently, safeguarding the most vulnerable, diagnosing cancer, undertaking minor surgery, saving limbs from amputation, and enabling patients to recover after major surgery, trauma and acute mental illness – to name but a few. Nurses are conducting leading-edge research and are training and developing this and the next generation.
The impact on patients
First and foremost, we want a resolution because of the impact on the patients and communities we serve. Industrial action means appointments cancelled, diagnostics delayed, operations postponed. The longer industrial action lasts, the greater the potential for positions to harden, waits for patients to grow, and risks of harm to accumulate.
The impact on nurses and nursing as a profession
We also want a resolution because we see the direct impact on the nurses we work with today, and those who we are developing for the future. While nursing remains a fulfilling profession, we hear from our nurses that many find their working conditions unsustainable. While recruitment numbers – particularly from international sources – have increased following the pandemic, nursing vacancies are close to 47,000 in England. Nearly 35,000 nurses left active service last year, a record number.
Our view is that resolving industrial action is an essential first step to improving retention, which is in turn vital both for the delivery of care and for the financial sustainability of the health and care system. Pay and reward is central to the dispute, which we recognise is a matter for negotiation between government and unions. As leaders of the nursing profession on the ground, we know that sufficient staffing levels to service increasing demand and complexity, well-structured and funded professional development opportunities, and affordable pathways through both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications to registration will also be critical if nurses are to feel valued and supported.
The importance and urgency of resolution
Our Chief Executives and leadership colleagues across the Shelford Group are keen to work with all parties to achieve a swift resolution to the disputes.
As professional leaders at the frontline, we are with our staff, patients and the public every day. We know the public trust and value nurses, and we know nurses want to be serving patients and the
public. We want to add our voice as nursing professionals to calls for all parties to come together with urgency, and do everything in their power to bring about resolution.
Issued on behalf of the Shelford Group Chief Nurses:
Professor Cheryl Lenney, Group Chief Nurse, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Avey Bhatia, Chief Nurse, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
Maurya Cushlow, Executive Chief Nurse, Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Sam Foster, Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Margaret Garbett, Chief Nursing Officer, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Chris Morley, Chief Nurse, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Professor Janice Sigsworth, Director of Nursing, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Vanessa Sweeney, Acting Chief Nurse, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Lorraine Szeremeta, Chief Nurse, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clare Williams, Interim Chief Nurse, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
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About the Shelford Group
The Shelford Group is a collaboration between ten of the largest teaching and research NHS hospital trusts in England.
These ten NHS trusts provide a comprehensive range of services from community care for local populations, to highly specialised care for patients nationwide. Together they account for over £17 billion of the NHS budget, employ over 170,000 staff and account for almost two thirds of the country’s clinical research infrastructure.
For further information contact Will Warburton on 07815 798855 or Natalie Hudson on 07814439932.