ICU nurses to strike over rotation plans

The trust urged patients to use Bassetlaw Hospital as normal during the strike period

Nurses in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Bassetlaw Hospital are set to start two days of strike action on Thursday over proposals for staff to work eight weeks a year at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said ICU nurses at Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop would walk out from 07:14 GMT on Thursday to 07:45 on Saturday.

The union Unite said the proposals for an eight-week rotation at Doncaster Royal Infirmary would leave staff with "unsustainable" commute times.

The ICU said temporary arrangements would be put in place during the strike period to ensure patient care remained safe, and urged patients to use the hospital as normal.

A trust spokesperson said the eight-week rotation each year at Doncaster Royal Infirmary would enable staff to maintain essential skills, competencies and experience.

The trust added Bassetlaw Hospital served a much smaller population than Doncaster Royal Infirmary, which meant it sees fewer severely ill patients that ICU nurses need regular hands-on experience with.

Unite said ICU nurses had already begun action short of a strike over the proposals through a ban on working on any ward or unit other than Bassetlaw ICU on 13 November.

The trust said it had put forward a "practical and fair" offer, which included reimbursement of mileage and flexible arrangements for those with caring responsibilities.

Karen Jessop, chief nurse at the trust, said: "Our priority is patient safety, and that means ensuring our highly skilled ICU nurses maintain the level of competency critically ill patients rightly expect.

"Bassetlaw Hospital sees fewer very sick patients, and a short-term rotation with Doncaster is the safest and most effective way to keep those specialist skills up-to-date.

"We have worked closely with colleagues and unions, and we believe our offer is practical, supportive, and focused on enabling our teams to continue delivering the safest, highest-quality care."