Striking nurses ‘put cancer patients at risk’: Royal College of Nursing comes under growing pressure

Nurses who refuse to provide life-saving cancer care during upcoming strikes will put patients at risk, health leaders and charities have warned.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) was last night coming under growing pressure to make a U-turn on plans to abandon sick cancer patients in pursuit of a bigger pay rise.

The union revealed it will escalate industrial action by demanding that nurses walk out of A&E, intensive care units and cancer wards for the first time later this month.

The 48-hour picket, beginning at 8pm on April 30, comes after members narrowly rejected an offer of a 5 per cent pay rise and a one-off bonus of up to £3,789. 

The RCN has demanded fresh talks but Rishi Sunak has insisted that there will be no more money to improve the deal, which has already been accepted by Unison, the biggest health union.

NHS Nurses from the Royal College of Nursing form a picket line as they strike for safe staffing levels, fair pay and working conditions outside St Thomas Hospital on 6th February 2023

The decision to disrupt cancer services, taken in February, comes as latest figures show that more than 2,000 patients with the disease in England waited more than a month to start treatment. 

In addition, almost 6,000 patients with cancer waited more than two months to start treatment following an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer. 

The longer that patients wait for a diagnosis and treatment, the more likely a tumour is to have spread, lowering their chances of survival.

Michelle Mitchell, the chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: ‘The possibility of ongoing strike action is a huge worry for patients and their loved ones. We urge all parties to work together to ensure that people don’t miss out on life-saving services.’

Miriam Deakin, of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said: ‘The planned strike with no exceptions for cancer services is a huge worry and risks compromising patients’ care.’

An RCN spokesperson said: ‘Nursing staff don’t want to go on strike.

‘We have given the NHS and government two weeks to plan for this and it’s the responsibility of the employer to maintain safe staffing levels.

‘We’d expect them to cancel non-urgent clinical work and elective procedures due to take place over the strike period.

‘We know this is a difficult task and there are exceptional circumstances where we would call it off in any hospital.

‘But we must remember employers already make difficult staffing arrangements work on most days.

‘Nurses are constantly having to “make do” with too little staff or not enough beds for people.

‘This level of pressure can’t go on any longer.

‘It’s time to turn the tables – the government will have to make do without our members.

‘The government can’t tell them they are too valuable to strike but not valuable enough to pay them fairly.

‘It’s time they put an offer on the table that reflects the difference nurses make to our lives.’