Nurses strike 2022: Peterborough and Cambridgeshire health services impacted as UK walkouts begin over pay

Nurses in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire are joining their colleagues across the country as they stage a 12 hour strike today.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison unions are taking the action on December 15 and on December 20.

It is the first time ever RCN members are taking strike action, as members protest over pay.

Nurses at the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust – which runs Peterborough City, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford & Rutland hospitals – are not taking strike action on either of the two days.However, other health services in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire will be affected.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust are taking strike action, with a picket line set up at the Fulbourn Hospital in Cambridge today. Another picket line will be at the Doddington Hospital, Benwick Road, Doddington on Tuesday.

The trust runs a number of services – including mental health provision – across the county, including the Cavell Centre, based on the same campus as Peterborough City Hospital in Bretton..

A spokesman for the trust said patients should continue to attend any appointments they have, unless they are told otherwise. The spokesman said: “We are working with trade unions to ensure there will be minimal disruption to patient care during the industrial action.“Patients should continue to attend their planned appointments unless contacted to reschedule and anyone in mental health crisis should call our First Response Service via NHS 111.”

Cambridge University Hospitals

Cambridge University Hospitals, which runs Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, will also be affected by the strikes, with a picket line set up today. Patients from Peterborough are often sent to the hospital for specialist treatment.

A spokesperson for the trust said the hospital 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 and any activity that does not require nursing support.

The spokesperson said that anyone with appointments should attend unless they have been told otherwise. They 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 re-arrange these appointments as quickly as possible. If you do not hear from us please attend your appointment as planned.”

Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust

Nurses at Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust will be joining in the strike action. The trust runs a number of services across the county – and further afield – including dental provision, sexual health services and other community based health services.

Along with Cambridgeshire, the trust runs services in Bedfordshire, Luton, Milton Keynes, Norfolk, and Suffolk, and a picket line today will be in Luton.

A spokesperson said: “We want to reassure people that during strike action the NHS will prioritise emergency and urgent treatment. We have tried and tested plans in place to minimise disruption, including during strike action.

“We will have to re-schedule some routine appointments and activities within our services during strike action to ensure we have safe levels of staffing. We will contact you directly if your appointment needs to be rescheduled. If you do not hear from us please attend your appointment as planned.

“People should continue to come forward as normal if they need care, especially in emergency and life-saving cases (people can go to 111 online for help and advice but call 999 if it is a life-threatening emergency).

“We will continue to update this page as more information becomes available.”

Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust

Nurses at the Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust, which runs ‘the UK’s leading heart and lung hospital’ near Cambridge, are also taking strike action.

A spokesperson for the trust said people who need urgent medical attention should still seek it. The spokesperson said: “If you were booked in for treatment at Royal Papworth Hospital on Thursday 15 December and your appointment needs to be postponed, you will have had a telephone call to confirm this. Our team is working hard to re-arrange a new date for you as soon as possible and you will receive a new appointment letter in the post.

“If we have not contacted you, please attend your appointment as planned.

“We are now beginning to contact patients booked in for Tuesday 20 December whom we need to postpone.

“Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward as normal, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk.

“GP services are not impacted by this strike action. Please continue to attend your GP appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.

“On strike action days, patients should only call 999 if it is a medical or mental health emergency. Where the situation is not life threatening, alternative support will be available through NHS111, and where possible it is advised that you arrange alternative transport.”

‘Regrettably, they’re not getting an extra penny’

RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen met with Health Secretary Steve Barclay on Monday night to try and agree a deal and prevent the strikes. However, a deal could not be reached.

Pat said: “I asked several times to discuss pay and each time we returned to the same thing – that there was no extra money on the table, and that they would not be discussing pay with me.

“I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nursing staff why they should not strike this week. Regrettably, they’re not getting an extra penny.

“Ministers had too little to say and I had to speak at length about the unprecedented strength of feeling in the profession.

“I expressed my deep disappointment at the belligerence that was shown – they closed their books and walked away.”

A full list of all the trusts where strike action is taking place is available at The Royal College of Nursing website.