Nurses across England begin 28-hour strike over pay

ITV News' Carl Dinnen has the latest as nurses begin a 28-hour strike

NHS services are braced for “exceptionally low” staffing as nurses begin a 28-hour strike over pay.

The strike, ending just before midnight on Monday, comes after a High Court judge ruled it would be unlawful for the industrial action to continue into Tuesday as originally planned.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said on Sunday that measures were in place to keep patients safe after concerns were raised on the impact of the strike action on emergency services.

The union initially said it would not agree to derogations - broad areas of care where staffing is guaranteed despite industrial action - but granted some exemptions on Friday in an apparent U-turn.

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is among the organisations where nurses have agreed to derogations after it voiced "serious concerns" about patient safety during the walkout.

The hospital said it was "incredibly grateful" to RCN members for offering assurances, but took the decision not to stand down a "business continuity incident" it had previously declared until it was confident it could staff its services over the strike.

Health workers across the NHS have gone on strike several times in past months in disputes over pay and conditions.

Unions, including Unison and the GMB, have voted in favour of a government pay offer to end the strikes, while Unite and the RCN have voted against.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said the 28-hour nursing strike is “premature” and “disrespectful” to other unions.

The comments come ahead of a meeting of the NHS Staff Council, made up of health unions, employers and Government representatives, which will discuss the Government’s 5% pay offer.

“I think this strike is premature and is disrespectful to those trade unions that will be meeting on Tuesday,” he told broadcasters.

The health secretary was also asked about reports containing allegations that health officials expressed concerns about his behaviour while working in the department.

ITV News previously heard from sources across the health sector about officials working with Mr Barclay raising claims, which include the word “bullying”.

'No complaint has ever been raised with me'

When asked about the reports today, he said he "hugely values the work of officials both within the department and across the NHS family."

He added: "No complaint has ever been raised with me... we've got very good officials that I work constructively with in the department and I look forward to continuing to do so."

Earlier this week a spokesperson for the department of health and social care said the department "has not received any formal complaints relating to the behaviour of its ministers". “Any complaints, relating to ministers or members of staff, would be investigated in line with departmental guidance," the spokesperson said.

Ahead of the strike action, RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said there are national exemptions in place for “those really acute urgent services”.

Speaking to Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, Ms Cullen said: “There are national exemptions in place for a range of services, for emergency departments, for intensive care units, for neonatal units, paediatric intensive care units, those really acute urgent services.

“We have put national exemptions in place, we’ve worked tirelessly with NHS England.

“In fact, it was the Royal College of Nursing who contacted NHS England to ask for a process to be put in place so that we make sure that the strike was safe for our patients.”

She said the strike was going ahead because staffing shortages are putting patients’ lives at risk.

“They’re going on strike because patients’ lives are being put at risk every single day,” Ms Cullen said.

“And why? Because we have tens of thousands of vacant nursing posts.”

NHS England is urging the public to use the health service wisely.

The organisation said emergency and urgent care would remain the priority, with people asked to use other services such as pharmacies and 111 where possible.

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Nurses make up a quarter of NHS staff and are the biggest proportion of the health service workforce.

NHS England warned that staffing levels for some areas of the country will be "exceptionally low, lower than on previous strike days".

The number of rescheduled appointments due to strike action is set to hit half a million next week, according to NHS England.

A High Court judge ruled on Thursday it would be unlawful for the RCN strike to continue into Tuesday as originally planned, meaning it will now end just before midnight on Monday.