Hospital asks patients' FAMILIES to help on wards during strikes
Hospital is accused of risking patients’ health by asking their FAMILIES to help on wards during strikes
- Nurses at 55 NHS trusts in England are walking out today and tomorrow over pay
- One NHS Trust was yesterday offering nurses £40 an hour to cover for strikes
- The Royal College of Nursing has announced strikes next month over 73 trusts
A hospital has been accused of putting lives at risk by asking patients’ friends and family to help out on strike days.
Nurses at 55 NHS trusts in England are walking out today and tomorrow in pursuit of an inflation-busting 19.2 per cent pay rise.
Dorset County Hospital issued a plea for ‘additional support’ and lifted its usual restrictions on visiting times.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) also announced strikes next month over 73 trusts.
Nurses at 55 NHS trusts in England are walking out today and tomorrow in pursuit of an inflation-busting 19.2 per cent pay rise
A message on the Dorset County Hospital website says: ‘Relatives and friends of patients in hospital will be able to visit general inpatient wards at any time between 10am and 8pm during Wednesday 18 January and Thursday 19 January, rather than being restricted to the usual ward visiting hours.
‘While all our wards will be safely staffed during the industrial action, additional support from families and friends would be welcomed during this time so that our nursing staff can focus on clinical care – for example, to assist with mealtimes.’
It also urged relatives to ‘help’ rapidly discharge fit patients.
Last month, the Royal Mail asked staff to bring parents, siblings and friends to work to help break strikes by the Communication Workers Union (CWU).
Bosses called it ‘a really great initiative’ – but the CWU called it ‘next-level desperation’.
A hospital has been accused of putting lives at risk by asking patients’ friends and family to help out on strike days
Dennis Reed, of Silver Voices which campaigns for elderly Britons, said of the hospital’s plan: ‘It sets a worrying precedent because if they get away with it during a strike, they are more likely to ask friends and relatives to help out again when they are simply short of staff.
‘Patients are in hospital because they are sick and need medical support from properly qualified staff – relying on their friends and family to muck in could be very dangerous.’ Yorkshire and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was yesterday offering nurses £40 an hour to cover for strikes.
It said nurses were ‘urgently required’ and bosses could ‘fast-track’ compliance if applicants submitted just five documents.
Experts said the process usually takes several months, with more thorough checks.
A message on the Dorset County Hospital website says: ‘Relatives and friends of patients in hospital will be able to visit general inpatient wards at any time between 10am and 8pm during Wednesday 18 January and Thursday 19 January, rather than being restricted to the usual ward visiting hours
Physiotherapists and ambulance staff are also due to hold strikes over pay, while junior doctors are being balloted on strike action. The GMB union is set to announce further ambulance worker strikes today.
Matthew Taylor, of the NHS Confederation which represents the healthcare system, urged ministers to renew pay talks and warned of a ‘war of attrition’. ‘We’ve been saying for weeks that the strike action couldn’t have come at a more difficult time for the NHS, but we hoped a compromise would be reached by now to bring an end to the impasse,’ he said, adding: ‘All the while this continues, the NHS won’t be able to break out of the vicious cycle it’s in.’
A poll suggests 57 per cent of Britons blame the Government for the pay row with nurses lasting so long. Just 9 per cent said nurses are more at fault, the Ipsos survey of 1,080 found.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it ‘is inevitable’ strikes will affect patients but added he had ‘constructive talks with the RCN and other unions’ on pay.
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