MP for Scarborough and Whitby says RCN strike action is ‘very disappointing’

Sir Robert Goodwill, the member of parliament for Scarborough and Whitby has said the nationwide strike action announced by the Royal College of Nursing is “very disappointing”.

For the first time in its 106-year history, the union that represents nurses has announced two days of strike action on December 15 and December 20 over a dispute on pay and staffing levels.

The RCN is seeking a pay increase of 19 per cent – 5 per cent above RPI inflation – while local union leaders have said that “strike action is the only way to get ministers to listen”.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Sir Robert Goodwill MP, said: “Unfortunately not everyone in the public sector, I don’t think, can expect an inflation-busting pay increase.”

He added: “If we give nurses an inflation-busting pay rise, that will mean fewer nurses. There is always a balance between giving people a bigger pay rise but that will result in fewer people being employed.”

A spokesperson for the NHS York and Scarborough Trust said: “We value our staff and recognise that they have the right to voice their concerns in this way.

“We have plans in place to deal with disruption to services, and we will be working closely with our staff and union representatives to ensure we continue to provide safe care for our patients during any period of industrial action.”

Sarah Dodsworth, the regional director of the RCN in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, said that “paying nurses fairly or not is a political choice”. She said the results of the union’s ballot showed that “members across the country are saying enough is enough”.

Ms Dodsworth added: “No nurse wants to strike but they have been forced into this position by the Government’s ignorance of falling real-terms pay and unsustainable staffing pressures that leave nursing staff feeling exhausted, demoralised and undervalued.

Sir Robert Goodwill said that while “nobody can criticise nurses for the fantastic work they do”, he said the NHS should use its “record levels of funding” to work off backlogs.

“It’s a very difficult one and I hope we can get some sort of agreement,” he added.

The RCN has said it will be “working with employers to ensure staffing is maintained in critical and life-preserving services so that patients are protected”.