'Every shift bad' for nurses on Shropshire picket line

Recovery staff nurse Mandy Evans said friends were leaving critical care posts

Nurses striking over pay on the picket line in Shropshire say "every shift... is bad".

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) walked out at The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen as part of nationwide action.

Mental and community health services in the county have also been affected.

Recovery staff nurse Mandy Evans said friends "from all different areas" were leaving critical care posts "because of their mental health".

She told the BBC it was "because they cannot cope going into work on a daily basis".

Ms Evans, who has been nursing since 1991, said "I used to have good shifts. I used to have bad shifts. Now every shift in general hospitals is bad."

'We've put up with it'

She added that while she received a good salary as a trainee, it was unlikely that new recruits would "take £50,000 loans to come in".

Most of all, she said nurses "want to go home knowing that their mortgage is paid for, their electricity is paid for".

"For 30 years we've been through austerity, we've been told 'we can't pay the nurses' and we've all just put up with it.

"[That's] because... we're professionals and we value our jobs."

Action was affecting The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital

Nationwide action is taking place on Wednesday and Thursday, following two strikes at Christmas.

As required under trade union laws, emergency care will be covered during the walkouts from 08:00 to 20:00.

Willing to compromise

The RCN has asked for a pay rise of 5% above the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rate of inflation, which currently stands at 14%, however general secretary Pat Cullen has said she was willing to compromise.

The governments in England and Wales have given NHS staff an average of 4.75%, with everyone guaranteed at least £1,400 - as recommended by the independent NHS Pay Review Body.

Ministers have made it clear they are not willing to move on this year's pay award.

However, one option being explored by Health Secretary Steve Barclay is backdating the 2023-24 rise to January instead of applying it in April.

About 20-30 people were on the picket line in Gobowen, according to the RCN. The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, which runs the county's two acute hospitals, has not been affected.

Elsewhere in the county, strikes are taking place at Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust and Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust which also covers Staffordshire.

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