NHS services have faced major disruptions as nurses walk off the job over pay

NHS services throughout England will face major disruption on Monday after nurses walked out of a 28-hour strike over pay.

The strike, which will end shortly before midnight, comes after a High Court judge ruled that holding protests on Tuesday, as originally planned, would be illegal.

There will also be a march by NHS workers in central London on Monday. Unite said the march would coincide with a strike by members of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

This follows concerns about the impact of the strike on patient safety.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary Pat Cullen said on Sunday that measures had been taken to ensure patient safety after concerns were raised about the impact of the strike on emergency services.

The union initially said it would not agree to the concessions – broad areas of assistance where staff are guaranteed despite industrial action – but on Friday allowed some exceptions in an apparent reversal.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is among the organizations where nurses have agreed to walk away after it raised “serious concerns” about patient safety during discharges.

The hospital said it was “incredibly grateful” to RCN members for offering the safeguards, but had decided not to end the “business continuity incident” until it was confident it could serve staff during the strike.

The walkout from Unite came after its members rejected the government’s pay offer.

The union said that, with inflation still in double digits, the offer was a “significant real pay cut” for NHS workers.

Join members of South Central, South East Coast and West Midlands Ambulance Trusts and staff from The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie Pathology Partnership, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust on 2nd May. .

NHS England warned that staffing levels in some parts of the country on Monday would be “exceptionally low, lower than in previous strike days”.

He added that next week the number of postponed meetings due to the strike will reach half a million.

Minister of Health Steve Barclay said the 28-hour strike by nurses was “premature” and “disrespectful” to other unions.

The comments come ahead of a meeting of the NHS Staff Council, made up of health unions, employers and government representatives, to discuss the government’s 5% pay proposal.

“I believe that this strike is premature and disrespectful to those unions that will meet on Tuesday,” he told broadcasters.

But Ms Cullen said there were national exemptions for “those really acute emergency services”.

Urging the public to use NHS services wisely, NHS England has asked those who need non-urgent care to go to a pharmacy or dial 111 as their first port of call.

Dame Ruth May, Chief Nursing Officer for England, said: “We are grateful to the RCN for agreeing the process to mitigate critical safety measures and we continue to support all nurses, those working and those involved in mass events.

“These mitigations do not mean a return to standard staffing. Industrial action will continue to have a very significant impact on services during the strike period and patients can expect longer waits for care.

“The public must use the NHS wisely, and those who need non-urgent care use pharmacies and online 111 as their first port of call. And if you have a life-threatening emergency, call for help as usual by dialing 999.”

Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and the largest proportion of the healthcare workforce.