Patient safety fears could stop nurses joining further walkouts

As reported by The Independent, nurses could refuse to carry out any further strikes alongside other health workers because of fears over patient safety

A mass walkout billed as the largest strike in NHS history is due to take place on Monday as tens of thousands of nurses, paramedics and 999 call handlers walk out in a bid to force ministers to the negotiating table.

But the coordinated strikes could be a one-off if nurses feel that the decision to take part in direct action compromises patient safety, The Independent has been told.

One union source said walkouts are not carried out on a ‘come what may’ basis, and that the unions would have to assess whether striking together was ‘helpful’ or not.

Unions have been escalating their industrial action in recent weeks in an attempt to secure higher pay rises. Any de-escalation in tactics will be seen as a blow to their campaign and a boost to Rishi Sunak’s hopes of riding out the wave of protests.

With patient safety the priority, sources insisted there are strong local controls that will pull nurses from picket lines if they think there is an issue.

‘Let’s see what happens on Monday and Tuesday and whether having other [health] professions out at the same time was a helpful impact or not,’ one source said. ‘It is always about patient safety.’

A senior health source said coordinated strikes among healthcare workers were actually an ‘accident’ rather than deliberate, and that there wasn’t a ‘conscious strategy’ over industrial action.

An RCN spokesperson said that the union has ‘our own mandate’ and that it had chosen the days on which its members would take part in strikes, adding that its members have a mandate to take strike action for another 100 days.

The nursing union believes that the ultimate responsibility for patient safety lies with the government, arguing that nurses are striking to ensure safe staffing and safe patient care in the NHS.