Nurses in England have turned down a five per cent pay increase offer and plan to strike further for a ‘significantly improved offer’. Meanwhile, research by Unison, a trade union, has shown that the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has been wasting more than £1 million ($1.23 million) on private ambulances for emergency calls.
The union claims that instead of investing in ambulances across the country, the government is spending at least £61 million ($75.3 million) on private ambulances to respond to emergency incidents such as road traffic accidents and stroke patients. The Mirror reports that this is taking place amid warnings that the government is not properly investing in ambulance services.
Unison warns that spending tens of millions on private 999 covers is a ‘short-term fix, not a long-term solution to the crisis in ambulance services’. ‘Ambulance services are in a desperate state because the Government has failed to invest long term,’ says the union.
Meanwhile, a ballot over the five per cent pay raise offered by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has resulted in around 54 per cent of nurses voting to reject the deal. In a letter to Health Minister Steve Barclay, RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen stated: ‘Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line.’ He added that ‘meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible.’
Reuters reports that, according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) trade union, its members will stage a 48-hour strike starting April 30. For the first time, nursing staff from emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other services will join the protests.
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