"Some members have told me over this last week that they are fearful they are going to lose their own house under not being able to pay their rent come the new year"
The Royal College of Nursing’s (RCN) general secretary Pat Cullen has said nurses are ‘absolutely dreading Christmas’, as they stage their second historic walkout of the month today, with ministers given 48 hours to open talks on pay or face further action in January.
Last week marked the first time in their 106-year history that nurses from the RCN took strike action, with up to 100,000 nurses taking part across England, Wales and Northern Ireland over poor pay and patient safety.
They have faced real terms pay cuts and on average earn £5000 a year less since 2010, with 1 in 3 struggling to afford food and heating and 14% of nurses turning to foodbanks in recent months.
Asked by LBC presenter Nick Ferrari how tough it is right now for nurses, Cullen told him: “I’ve been a nurse now for 42 years and I’ve never seen it as tough.
“Speaking to nursing staff this morning and on Thursday, it’s actually heartbreaking listening to their stories and the fears that they have for the unsafe staffing levels that they are forced to work in within the NHS.
“50,000 vacant posts and that’s not just taken its toll on patients but really taken its toll on those nurses and how they can’t switch off and then when they go home the absolute fear of not being able to make ends meet and pay their bills.
“Some of them are absolutely dreading Christmas because they have not been able to do the things that they would want to be doing for their young families at Christmas.
“Indeed, some members have told me over this last week that they are fearful they are going to lose their own house under not being able to pay their rent come the new year and I think that’s a serious indictment on any government that believes that’s the right thing to do on behalf of the profession and kick them out in the cold and pay them the lowest possible wage that they can get away it.
“It’s just not right and there’s no other way of describing it.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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