This Christmas could be one of the NHS’s darkest ever, trust leaders have forecast, warning that strikes threaten to exacerbate an ‘already deeply challenging situation’ in the health service.
The worrying prediction came as further strikes were announced by ambulance workers for the New Year
Handover delays were high across the whole of last week, with no clear evidence that industrial action taken by nurses on their first strike day had a specific impact. Health Secretary Steve Barclay is considering fast-tracking an NHS pay rise next year in a bid to resolve the dispute but has so far ruled out any movement on current wages.
Patricia Marquis, Royal College of Nursing director for England, lamented ‘record nursing vacancies’ and insisted the only way to fix the problem is ‘by paying nurses fairly to retain and recruit the staff patients need’. Of delays in patients being transferred from ambulances to the care of A&E teams, she said: ‘With ambulance handover delays having increased by a third in the last week, trust leaders are extremely worried as strike action threatens to aggravate an already deeply challenging situation.
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