Nurses in Devon and Cornwall join national strike again

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are calling for better pay and conditions

Nurses in the South West have walked out again to join what has been described as the biggest round of strikes in NHS history.

There were picket lines at Torbay, Derriford, Royal Devon, North Devon and Royal Cornwall hospitals on Tuesday.

One striker asked the public to "bear with us and understand" their fight for better pay, staffing and patient care.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay warned the walkouts would "undoubtedly have an impact on patients and cause delays".

He said ministers had met the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body.

RCN members are striking in a third of England's NHS trusts.

Vicky Webb said "a workforce in crisis" meant patients were already suffering from delays

Vicky Webb, a clinical practitioner at Plymouth's Derriford Hospital, said better pay was "absolutely fundamental" to recruitment and retention of staff.

"Just bear with us and please understand where we are coming from," she said.

"We are not necessarily doing this just for us and our colleagues; this is about safer staffing on the wards and achieving better care for our patients.

"Operations are already cancelled on a daily basis. We are already a workforce in crisis."

She called on the government to "follow the precedent" set in Scotland and Wales, where pay deals have been reached.

NHS Providers chief Sir Julian Hartley has urged the government to re-open talks with unions, but ministers ruled out reopening this year's pay award, worth an extra 4.75% on average, and instead have urged unions to start discussing next year's deal.

All 14 health unions have pulled out of that process.

Striking nurses gathered outside the Royal Cornwall Hospital

Stuart Quarterman, RCN steward and a registered nurse, said he hoped the government would "start to engage".

"We're on the coalface. We can see how much people believe in what we are doing," he said.

Surgical specialist nurse Shaji Devadasan said the striking staff should be "inside the hospital, caring for patients" and that strike action would end if the government made a deal.

Harriet Halfhead said she was fighting for what she believed in

Cancer nurse Harriet Halfhead, picketing the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, said: "You've got to fight for what you believe in and if we just roll over and give up then it will never get better."

Fellow nurse Roisin Macsweeney said: "I do think the public do support us and it is about them; it's about their health, their wellbeing and doing what we can to protect people who are vulnerable and can't speak up for themselves."

Further strikes, including a walkout by physiotherapists, will follow later in the week.