Nurses strike UK: Cambridgeshire nurse claims Covid pandemic is 'excuse' for current NHS staff shortages

A Cambridgeshire nurse with over 20 years of healthcare experience has said the Covid-19 pandemic has been used as “an excuse” for NHS staff shortages – claiming the health service has been understaffed since before the pandemic.

Kailash Ludhor, who is a mental health nurse at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, joined the trust’s Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members on strike at a picket line outside Doddington Hospital, in March, on Tuesday (December 20).

He said the second day of national RCN strike action this month was a “last resort” for nurses – who are “underpaid”, “overworked”, and “undervalued”.

"The NHS is understaffed and people are at breaking point,” Kailash said.

"It’s having an impact on people’s mental health. Nurses hardly get any breaks and are staying over their hours, doing unpaid overtime.

"If the NHS and nurses were given resources, proper staffing, and investment we would not be here today.

"Covid is just an excuse as we were short on nurses before the pandemic. Lots of experienced nurses are retiring.

"It’s not just about numbers and recruiting more nurses – it’s about experience.

"We can’t dedicate the quality time to supervise, support, and mentor the students like we should because we’re constantly firefighting to give proper care to patients.”

The latest NHS vacancy statistics show that in September this year there were 47,496 nursing vacancies at the health service in England – however there were still 42,679 vacancies in September 2018, before the pandemic.

The figures show that there were 133,446 vacancies across all sectors of the NHS as of September 2022.

"I don’t feel valued,” Kailash said. “There is no life work balance, which has reduced over the years.

“It’s having an impact on patients because we’re not able to give the dedicated care to them.”

A statement published by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust 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."

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has conceded ministers do not have to accept the recommendations of the pay review bodies amid growing scrutiny over how public sector wages are set.

The Government, which ultimately decides the level of pay to be awarded to public sector workers covered by the pay review process, has continued to cite the independence of the process as it refuses to negotiate on the pay demands of nurses and ambulance workers.

Pay review body recommendations are not legally binding on the Government and ministers can generally choose to reject or partially ignore its advice, even if they are typically accepted.