‘Burn out’ fears prompt strike by hospital nursing staff at Guy’s and St Thomas’

By Kelsey McCabe

Nurses will this week begin a strike to protest against extended working hours, which they say jeopardise patient safety and lead to burnout.

Surgery theatre nurses at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals will strike on Thursday, and again on Tuesday of next week, said the labour union Unite. Further action is scheduled should the strikes not result in a constructive deal with the trust.

After day nurses had the end of their shifts extended from 7-8pm and Saturdays added to their weekly schedule to support extra theatre lists, they saw their shifts extended once more to end at 9pm.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members understand the pressure the NHS is under but working staff until they break is not the answer. Guy’s and St Thomas’ leadership must find another way.”

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is one of the busiest National Health Service Trusts in the United Kingdom, with 2.6 million patient contacts each year across five hospitals and 17 community health centres in South London.

Mark Boothroyd, A&E nurse and Unite branch secretary at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “The extension to shift times is part of the trust management’s attempts to get more operations through theatres and reduce the backlog.

They can’t do this at the expense of staff. We need the government to put more investment into the NHS, and to NHS staff wages.”

A spokesman for Guy’s and St Thomas’ said that the trust is disappointed that the union plans to move ahead with the strikes while in the midst of constructive talks.

“We would urge them to call off this action so we can continue making progress on improving the shift patterns for our highly valued and important theatre nurses,” he said.

“We are working closely with colleagues to plan for the impact of this strike, and any changes to patient care will be communicated directly to patients and via our usual public channels as appropriate.”

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