Head nurse calls for union to scrap Isle of Man strike action

Paul Moore said July's strike action had caused pain and suffering to patients

The Isle of Man's director of nursing has urged union members to call off planned strike action over pay.

A 12-hour walk out is planned by Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members from 08:00 BST on Thursday.

Paul Moore warned the staffing of essential services could fall to "dangerous" levels during the period, causing patients "pain and suffering".

But Estephanie Dunn from the RCN said low pay had "made care unsafe" and not strike action.

Manx Care's "negligence" had led to the profession being in the "dire state" it is in now, she said.

The union's members staged the Isle of Man's first ever nursing strike in July after a breakdown in talks over pay and conditions.

Mr Moore said he saw "patients not getting the care they needed, having pain, being in discomfort".

He said while he "supports and respects" his colleagues' campaign, he expected a "significant number of staff will join the picket lines" meaning the health care body would "struggle deliver safe care" during the planned action.

'Deeply entrenched'

Negotiations over pay have been ongoing for more than two years, with Manx Care's latest offer of a 6% pay increase with a £1,000 lump sum payment recently rejected as "an insult" by the RCN union.

Mr Moore said the union and Manx Care were "deeply entrenched" in their positions, and due to the impact on patient care it was now "time to negotiate a way forward through arbitration".

Ms Dunn said after, seeking legal guidance, the union had agreed not to enter arbitration as it "would require all parties to agree that any outcome would be binding".

"History has shown that the outcome is never in the interests of our members who continue to be offered below cost-of-living pay increases," she said.

While key services are set to be protected via an agreement between the union and the health care body to maintain "essential" services, about 290 outpatient appointments have been cancelled because of the planned strike.

Mr Moore said he was "deeply concerned" that the health of those patients "continues to deteriorate, and their needs and suffering continue to grow".

Rescheduling and reprioritising appointments would also put a "tremendous bureaucratic burden on the organisation when it's already stretched", he added.

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