Nurses stage largest ever strike seeking higher pay

Nurses in England staged their biggest strike so far in their pay dispute on Monday, with hospital leaders warning that services would come under severe strain and the public being urged to use the National Health Service "wisely".

Some nurses who work in accident and emergency, intensive care and cancer services joined the picket lines for the first time.

Royal College of Nursing members in more than 100 NHS organizations started 28-hours of strike action that ran from Sunday evening until late on Monday, in the widest nursing strike to face the NHS so far, reported the BBC.

The strike went ahead despite a new NHS pay offer from the government that is expected to be approved by most health unions this week.

A meeting on Tuesday between unions, ministers and NHS bosses will discuss whether to accept the government's offer of a 5-percent rise and one-off bonus. The RCN is among the unions to have voted to reject the deal.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay had described the RCN's decision to go ahead with its strike as "premature" and "disrespectful" to other unions taking part in Tuesday's meeting.

The chief executive of the NHS Confederation, Matthew Taylor, urged nurses to accept the offer on the table, noting the "heavy toll" action has taken on health services.

Speaking on Sky News, he said he recognized there would have been no pay rise at all for NHS staff without the unions' "solidarity". He said: "If it hadn't been for the action that the nurses, the paramedics, other groups took, then they wouldn't have had the pay deal which is going to be discussed tomorrow."

He added: "I think our view now is that, given that most staff have voted in favor of this deal, it is time to accept it; for the unions to work together and for us to think more longterm about what we need to do to address that crisis of 120,000 vacancies in the health service."

Last week, a High Court ruling stated that it would be unlawful for the industrial action to continue into Tuesday as originally planned, amid concerns over the impact of the strike action on patient safety.

The RCN said some exemptions to strike action were being made where hospitals were struggling to maintain life-preserving care.

RCN leader Pat Cullen urged government officials to "get round the table immediately" to resolve their pay dispute.

Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain program, she explained her union's support for the ongoing strikes, despite having previously recommended nurses accept the offer from the government.

"What our nursing staff said was it was neither fair nor reasonable – it puts money in their pockets now but in the long term it doesn't address recruitment and retention issues," she said.

The iNews website reported that the RCN is poised to ballot its members on further strike action that may run until Christmas.