Nurse strikes: Lancashire unaffected by RCN industrial action tomorrow

Nationwide, members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will walk out tomorrow and December 20 in a dispute over pay.

But nurses at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were never set to go on strike, after a ballot didn’t get enough votes last month.

>>>Read more here about the vote in Blackpool

Elsewhere in Lancashire, members at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Preston Hospital and Chorley & South Ribble Hospital, did vote to strike – but this will not be taking place tomorrow.

A spokesman for the RCN said: “The strikes are all happening at different times and tomorrow and Tuesday is just Liverpool in the North West region."

Further strike dates will be announced in the New Year.

What’s the situation in Blackpool?

A spokesman for Blackpool Teaching Hospitals said: “Patients with appointments should attend as normal unless they are told otherwise.”

Patients can click here for a handy page for advice on anyone feeling unwell who thinks they may need medical help.

Where is affected?

NHS England said it wasn’t aware of any industrial action taking place in any part of Lancashire tomorrow, with the RCN’s own website confirming so.

These are the North West Trusts affected:

Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust - 15 December / 20 DecemberLiverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Found Trust - 15 December / 20 DecemberLiverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust - 15 December / 20 DecemberLiverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust - 15 December / 20 DecemberMersey Care NHS Foundation Trust - 15 December / 20 DecemberThe Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Found Trust - 15 December / 20 DecemberThe Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust - 15 December / 20 December

Emergency care will continue but routine services will be hit.

NHS England have said: “We continue to encourage people to come forward for care unless told otherwise.”

Why go on strike?

The most experienced frontline nurses are around £10,000 worse off a year now than in 2008 and the union wants a 19 per cent pay rise for nurses.

However the government has said that is "unaffordable" and it has met independent recommendations on nurses' pay.

RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen met with Health Secretary Steve Barclay on Tuesday, with hopes of beginning formal pay negotiations, which could have averted strike action. However, Mr Barclay refused to discuss pay, and therefore strikes will go ahead as planned.

Following the meeting, Ms Cullen said: “I asked several times to discuss pay and each time we returned to the same thing – that there was no extra money on the table, and that they would not be discussing pay with me.”

She continued: “I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nursing staff why they should not strike this week. Regrettably, they’re not getting an extra penny.

“Ministers had too little to say and I had to speak at length about the unprecedented strength of feeling in the profession.

“I expressed my deep disappointment at the belligerence that was shown – they closed their books and walked away.”