Status: 12/19/2022 4:14 am
Great Britain is experiencing the worst wave of strikes in decades. For the first time, tens of thousands of nurses in hospitals across the country are also walking down. They want higher wages and better working conditions.
Instead of being on the ward, they are on the street: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, nurses are on strike these days. It is their biggest strike since the NHS began.
The desperation is palpable: “Nothing changes,” says this striking nurse, fighting back her tears. “Everything is getting tighter and tighter. And we’re expected to just put up with it, that we’ll still find reserves, but that’s enough for now.”
In England alone there is a shortage of almost 47,000 nurses. Matt Tracey from the English Midlands, who also belongs to this professional group, describes the situation as follows: “On the wards there is a minimum number of nurses that are needed. But there aren’t. Instead, the work is distributed to the few who are there are burned out and tired.”
Real wage levels have fallen significantly
In addition to the working conditions, it is also about the money. Matt admits to having to borrow money at the end of the month just to make ends meet. Pamela, a mother of two who has just come from the blackboard in Nottingham, is also struggling in the face of high living and energy costs: “As a nurse you should be able to afford the groceries,” she says. She sees having to go to the table as a stigma.
For nursing staff, the real wage level has fallen by an average of eight percent since 2010, and in some cases by as much as 20 percent, according to the union. Now a balance is to be found that is well above the rate of inflation: the nursing staff are demanding a wage increase of 19 percent, but the government considers this to be unaffordable and is offering four to five percent. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called on the union to call off the strikes, but those affected want their voices heard.
Government wants to reduce the consequences of strikes involving soldiers
The British government wants to use 1,200 soldiers to replace striking staff at border controls and ambulances. At the same time, she opposed the wage demands of the trade unions, which demand inflation compensation. “It would be irresponsible to let public sector wages and inflation spiral out of control,” Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden told the BBC. The demands of the unions are prohibitive.
The unions assured that their members would be available for emergencies even during the strikes. “We have pledged that our members will leave the picket line and get into ambulances if there are emergencies that need attention,” said union leader Onay Kasab.
No more space in the clinics
The UK healthcare system is run down. More than seven million Britons are currently waiting for treatment or surgery, many of them for months. Even in emergencies, there is often no quick help.
Because there is a lack of places in care facilities, too many people stay in hospital too long and occupy beds that are urgently needed for others. Long lines form in front of the emergency rooms, patients sometimes have to wait for hours in the ambulance.
Hours of waiting for the ambulance
This in turn has serious consequences for other emergencies: paramedic Glen Carrington, for example, has to regularly ignore emergency calls because his ambulance is not available: “Sometimes those who dial the emergency call have to wait six or seven hours. We’ve seen people die before we got there. If they’re still alive, we’ll take them to the hospital,” he reports. “And then we wait there and wait and wait.”
Glen thinks it is conceivable that the British health system will collapse in the foreseeable future. The paramedics also want to go on strike this week. It’s her way of making an emergency call.