Theatre nurses schedule fresh strike action ahead of talks

Theatre nurses at two central London hospitals have scheduled fresh strike action ahead of talks tomorrow.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust leadership and Unite the union are set to meet to discuss an increase in shift times for day surgery theatre nurses.

If the dispute is not resolved during the talks, fresh strikes on September  3, 4 and 5, will go ahead, the union said.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Guys and St Thomas’ theatre nurses have been ringing the alarm bell over unsustainable workloads, burnout and risks to patient safety for months.

“They cannot carry on like this, which is why industrial action will continue to escalate until a workable solution is agreed.”

The nurses, who are members of Unite, previously took strike action on 27 June and 2, 9, 30 and 31 July, after the end of their shift time was moved from 8pm to 9pm.

Theatre staff had already had their shifts extended from 7pm to 8pm, Unite said, and have had to start working Saturdays to support extra theatre lists.

The union also staged a demonstration on July 31, outside of the Florence Nightingale Foundation where Guys’ and St Thomas’ chief nurse Avey Bhatia serves as vice president.  

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is one of the UK’s busiest NHS trusts with 2.6million patient contacts each year. The trust said: “The shift times have been changed to finish at 9pm on some days, however, staff are not being asked to work any more hours.

“Some theatre lists are required to run longer than the traditional end time to maximise capacity for patient surgery. Theatre nurses have worked ad hoc overtime when this happens or lists have over run.

“Staff told us that nurses were being asked to work beyond their normal hours once or twice a month on average and this change in shift time resolves this.”

But, the union said the new shifts “pose a danger” to both patients and staff”.

Unite regional officer Tabusam Ahmed said: “The nurses now have no work life balance and the trust is in danger of forcing staff to quit for the sake of their own health. 

“Everyone agrees that the NHS is on its knees. But the way to fix that is to provide it with the investment it needs – not by crushing staff with ever increasing workloads, which is what is happening to Guys’ and St Thomas’ theatre nurses.”

Pictured top: Unite union members hold gift wrapped petitions outside St Thomas’ Hospital (Picture: Unite)