Welsh NHS strikes: 'A lot' of operations to be cancelled

Nurses will stage two days of strike action on 6 and 7 February

Operations and other planned care will need to be cancelled in the Welsh NHS next week because of strike action, Wales' health minister has warned.

Nurses, ambulance staff, physios and midwives are all set to walk out.

Further talks will take place between Eluned Morgan and unions on Thursday, in a bid to avert further industrial action.

So far a one-off payment offer has not satisfied union demands - and has been outright rejected by RCN Wales.

The union is holding two days of industrial action next Monday and Tuesday.

Unite union members in the Welsh Ambulance Service Trust will walk out on Monday - the first time ambulance staff and nurses will have been on strike on the same day. Midwives and physios will stage industrial action on the Tuesday.

Unions want pay rises that at least match inflation, and say any offer from the Welsh government should be incorporated into workers' salaries and pay packets.

So far the Welsh government has only offered a one-off payment for 2022-23.

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Speaking at a press conference, Eluned Morgan said: "We are very aware of the strength of feeling of people working in the NHS."

"There obviously will be a pressure on services," she said.

She said there will be a "need to cancel quite a lot of elective care", which she said "will cause, I'm sure, a lot of frustration for people".

Elective care in the NHS usually refers to non-urgent surgery, outpatient care and diagnostic tests.

"But it is important that we put those mitigations in place that we do a lot of preparatory work."

She said "very urgent care" would be in place.

Ms Morgan said Welsh government officials were meeting unions on Tuesday, and said she herself would meet them "on Thursday to see if there is any possibility that we can avoid this industrial action".

Asked if anything new was on the table, she said she did not want to give a "running commentary on negotiations".

"There is a quantum of money that we have offered to the unions. We're still in discussion on that, there are a couple of other issues on the table.

"I think it is important that we try and keep these discussions alive," she said, promising to work "to the very last moment to see if it is possible for us to avoid industrial action."