Nurses walk out on strike at Addenbrooke’s, Royal Papworth and Fulbourn hospitals

Nurses at Addenbrooke’s, Royal Papworth and Fulbourn hospitals have joined thousands of colleagues across the country in the biggest strike in nursing history.

More than 100 staff and supporters braved sub-zero temperatures to form a picket line next to the Fendon Road roundabout entrance to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge this morning (Thursday, December 15).

They were cheered on by passers-by as well as motorists who wound down their windows to shout support or beeped their car horns.

Around a quarter of hospitals and community teams in England, alongside all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales, are part of the industrial action.

The Royal College of Nursing members voted to take strike action following a below-inflation pay award in England. They will strike again on Tuesday, December 20.

The mood at the picket line outside Cambridge University Hospitals, which runs Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie, was determined as staff joined the protesters in rotation to beat the freezing temperatures.

Karen Shepherd, a staff nurse at Addenbrooke’s who was on the picket line, said: “The cost of living at the minute is hitting hard. We have nurses using food banks and that's a national disgrace, but the main worry for me is patient safety. When you can’t look after people properly it is traumatic for patients and staff. We need more nurses. We need this profession to be exciting and inviting but at the minute we are leaving in droves because of physical tiredness and financial struggles and the emotional burden of being a nurse is too much for people now.

“We do a hard job when we are fully staffed but at the minute it’s untenable. Crying in the staffroom happens on a daily basis for most nurses and that’s not in anybody’s job description. The trauma of being here is real. We are tired. We are understaffed and undervalued.”

The NHS is running bank holiday-style service in many areas during the strikes, though the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said its members will still staff chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, critical care units, neonatal and paediatric intensive care, alongside several other services.

Bridget Leslie, senior regional officer for the RCN was on the picket line in Cambridge today. She said: “This is about patient safety. The government has refuse to have a conversation with the RCN. They are not sitting down in good faith to have a conversation with us about the real-terms pay cut that nurses have had for the last 10 years. Eighty-three per cent of shifts in this country are understaffed. One in eight posts are vacant in England alone - 25,000 nurses left the nursing register last year. It is dire. It is making it incredibly hard for us to deliver safe care for their patients.

“We had a really challenging two years during Covid and everybody stood on their doorsteps and clapped for us. What I’m saying now is to deliver the high quality standards of patient care that we want to we need more staff. And in order to attract more people into the profession we need to make it so you have a workload that is manageable and safe.”

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, told the PA news agency that NHS trusts are “pulling out all the stops” to reduce the impact on patients.

It comes after RCN chief executive Pat Cullen accused health secretary Steve Barclay on Monday of “belligerence” after he refused to discuss the issue of pay.

He has said the government is sticking to the recommendations of the independent pay review body, which said nurses should get a pay rise of around £1,400.

The RCN has been calling for a pay rise at five per cent above inflation, though it has indicated it would accept a lower offer.

Ms Cullen said patients across the NHS deserve the best possible care “that they cannot get because of 50,000 vacant nursing posts”.

She said more needs to be done to stop nurses leaving for other jobs, such as in supermarkets and retail, adding: “It’s up to this government. They have a responsibility to address those vacant nursing posts and stop the drain out of our profession.

“How are they going to do that? They need to do that by paying nurses a decent wage.

“[Nurses] are not being greedy, they are asking for the 20 per cent that has been taken out of their pay over the last decade to be put back in and to make sure that they can continue and care for their patients.”

On BBC Breakfast, Ms Cullen said Mr Barclay had told her she could talk about “anything but pay”.

She added: “That’s going to resolve nothing. What it is going to do is to continue with days like this.”

Earlier, Ms Caulfield said pay is “almost a smaller issue” than other conditions for nurses.

On the picket line outside Cambridge University Hospitals, Andy Roy, a Band 5 staff nurse in the emergency department, said: “I’ve had to make the difficult decision to strike today because enough is enough. We need to think about how we are going to retain nursing staff and pay them better and how we are going to keep our patients safe.

You can come onto an emergency shift and be told you are nine nurses short. The problem with that is you can get nurses from another area to come and help but they are not emergency trained and it would be the same if I went to their ward - I am not trained in their speciality. It means a lot of staff are on their knees and are leaving nursing.”

RCN officer Steve Hayes told the Cambridge Independent: “We have been blown away by the support by our members - we have had to open two more picket lines because we have so many members here.

“But also we have had lots of support from the public, with people beeping their horns or stopping to show their support, They seem to understand it’s not just about pay it is about patient safety and we have so many nurses leaving the profession because their pay has dropped so far behind they are effectively working one day a week for free.”

Meanwhile, there was an official picket line nearby outside Royal Papworth Hospital on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and nurses at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust also walked out, holding a picket line near the entrance to Fulbourn Hospital.

Health minister Maria Caulfield said around 70,000 appointments, procedures and surgeries will be lost in England due to the strike. Thousands more will be affected in Northern Ireland and Wales.

She told Sky News: “Cancer surgeries are going to be closed in those 44 trusts in England. We reckon it’s about 70,000 appointments, procedures, surgeries that will be lost.”

A statement from Cambridge University Hospitals Trust said: “During industrial action, we need to reduce the number of appointments we have planned to ensure we have safe levels of staffing. We are contacting patients directly if this means that their appointment will need to be postponed. We know how disappointing and concerning this will be for those waiting for treatment and we are very sorry this is the case. We will rearrange these appointments as quickly as possible. If you do not hear from us please attend your appointment as planned.”

The trust added: “We will continue to provide the following services, some of which may be at a reduced level:

• Emergency care – same day emergency care, emergency department, emergency support services, emergency surgery
• Critical care
• Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, dialysis,
• Inpatient care
• Urgent diagnostic procedures and other time critical services
• Activity that does not require nursing support.”

Following the second planned RCN strike on Tuesday (December 20), ambulance workers will walk out next Wednesday, although not in the East of England, which covers Cambridgeshire.