UK PM calls for discussion over nurses pay rise

PM Rishi Sunak says he is willing to discuss a pay rise for nurses in a bit to end strikes  

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that he is open to a discussion over the pay hike for nurses across the UK.

This statement was made by Sunak on Sunday, prior to his government´s meeting with the leader of the trade union.  

“We want to have a reasonable, honest, two-way conversation about pay”, said Sunak in a recent statement to the BBC. He added, “The door has always been open to talk about the things that nurses want to talk about, and the unions want to talk about more generally.”   

The National Health Service has been under severe stress, following years of not receiving sufficient investments, as well as due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Now as the UK faces a flu outbreak along with COVID,  more pressure has been put on the already strained UK healthcare system due to the shortage of staff and strikes.

Patients are now being forced to wait for several hours to get ambulances or beds in the hospitals, as some have reportedly received treatments in corridors.  

Meanwhile, Pat Cullen, the head of the Royal College of Nursing union, quoted in a Reuters report said she had a “chink of optimism after noticing a little shift in the prime minister’s stance”.  

“The prime minister talked about coming to the table. That’s a move for me because I’ve said ‘let’s meet halfway’. I can’t negotiate on my own,” Cullen said.  

“We will put our case, but what the government wants to talk about tomorrow is pay moving forward and in the broadest terms. That is not going to avert the strike action that’s planned for 10 days’ time.” 

After the recent strike in December, thousands of nurses in the UK will now go on strike on January 18 and 19.

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