Nurses and ambulance workers in the Harrogate district are set to strike on the same day in just over two weeks’ time.
Picket lines could be organised within yards of each other on Lancaster Park Road in Harrogate, where the hospital and the ambulance station are both located.
Unless strikes are averted, the Royal College of Nursing plans to carry out two days of industrial action on February 6 and 7.
Unite has scheduled another ambulance strike in Harrogate on February 6.
Ambulance workers striking in Harrogate this year.
There is also the prospect of schools being affected on February 1, when members of the National Education Union plan to strike before staging further walk-outs in February and March. A union official has predicted some schools will have to close.
Sandy Lay, a nurse at Harrogate District Hospital and a Liberal Democrat councillor representing Otley and Yeadon on Leeds City Council, told a full council meeting on Wednesday the government rather than striking nurses were harming patients.
But he added arrangement for patient care were often better on strike days than non-strike days because minimum service levels were in place,
He said:
“We want minimum service levels and minimum staff levels, but it has to be every day, not just on strike days.”
Hospital: ‘regrettable some services have been affected’
Asked what impact this week’s strikes had had on the hospital, and whether it would amend its plans for future strikes, a spokesman for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said:
“Comprehensive plans are in place to maintain the safety of patients requiring our services during the Royal College of Nursing’s industrial action.
“We are committed to providing the best possible levels of healthcare in any eventuality, and as ever, during the industrial action our focus has been on maintaining the safety of our patients.
“Whilst it is regrettable that some of our services have been affected by industrial action, we have ensured that essential services have remained available. Whilst we have been operating at reduced staffing levels in a number of areas such as inpatient wards, we worked with the RCN to ensure that we had sufficient nursing staff working to maintain patient safety.
“During the industrial action we have rescheduled appointments where it has been necessary. We have worked with the RCN to ensure that our services have remained safe.
“While pay is a matter for government and the trade unions, we greatly value our staff and respect those who have chosen to take part in industrial action. We want to see a resolution as soon as possible to ensure we can continue to focus on delivering high quality patient care to all those who need it.”
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- Union predicts some Harrogate district schools will close due to strike
- First ever nurses’ strike begins at Harrogate hospital
First ever nurses’ strike begins at Harrogate hospital
Nurses at Harrogate District Hospital have gone on strike today for the first time ever.
A picket line is in place outside the hospital on Lancaster Park Road for the first of two 12-hour strikes called by the Royal College of Nursing.
Surgical nurses, paediatric nurses and accident and emergency nurses were among those taking part in this morning’s industrial action. Some passing vehicles sounded their horns in support of the strikers.
Amanda Brown and Andy Law, RCN officers from Leeds who joined Harrogate nurses on the picket line this morning, told the Stray Ferret the action was necessary because the NHS is “broken”.
Mr Law added the NHS was short of 47,000 nurses — up by 7,000 on a year ago.
Although the strike will disrupt some services for patients, Ms Brown said people requiring urgent care would not be affected:
“We’ve ensured staffing levels are safe.”
Today’s action is the latest wave of industrial action in the Harrogate district. Ambulance workers, rail workers and postal workers have all been on strike this winter.
Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, has warned the strikes could escalate in the weeks ahead if a settlement isn’t reached.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said “unaffordable” pay rises for nurses would prevent investment in the NHS.
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