Theatre nurses protest outside Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital
Today, theatre nurses at two central London hospitals have taken to the streets in a demonstration over an extension of their shift times.
Guy’s and St Thomas’ day surgery theatre nurses gathered outside the Guy’s Hospital entrance, in St Thomas’ Street, this afternoon in a protest that coincides with the Trust’s board meeting.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The trust is guilty of exploiting a dedicated workforce which is already going above and beyond the call of duty in caring for patients.”
The nurses, who are members of Unite union, are currently undertaking their two days of strike strike 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 nurses began their latest strike action yesterday when a demonstration was held outside NHS England in Waterloo Road.
They had previously taken strike action on June, 27 and July 2 and 9.
Ms Graham said: “The excessively late shifts are simply not safe. Our members are exhausted and becoming ill, this is not just threatening their welfare but that of their patients.”
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 vast majority of our theatre nurses will continue to finish at 8pm, as they have for the past 10 years.
“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: “Our members are taking strike action as a last resort. They know that strike action will result in cancelled operations and increased waiting lists but they have no choice.
“Senior management at Guy’s and St Thomas’ have refused to listen to our members concerns it is now imperative that the board takes action to ensure a fair resolution can be reached.”
A Guy’s and St Thomas’ spokeswoman said: “We would strongly encourage Unite to end their refusal to join talks with Acas and to find a resolution that will benefit staff and patients.”
Pictured top: Theatre nurses protest outside Guy’s Hospital entrance today (Picture: Unite Union)