Nurses set for strike action by November if pay issue not resolved – minister

Nurses are set to take strike action in Northern Ireland by November if a £200 million funding gap is not bridged to meet a recommended pay increase, the Health Minister has warned.

Mike Nesbitt told MLAs that the impact of strike action on efforts to drive down the region’s waiting lists would be “massive”.

The minister said his department was facing a £614 million funding gap. He said £200 million of that sum related to nurses’ pay.

The minister was responding to a question from SDLP MLA Colin McGrath who accused the Executive of being unwilling to pay health workers “what they are owed”.

In response, the minister said he would not point fingers at Executive colleagues over the funding shortfall.

“I don’t see a fix for this outside of the Executive working together collaboratively,” he said.

“So, I’m not in the business of pointing a finger at any other Executive minister.

“I have made the point repeatedly that I understand every minister, every department, is suffering huge financial pressures. I believe the pressures on health are absolutely unprecedented and we’re talking around £614 million of a funding gap. That’s unprecedented, and there is a question about whether it’s unmanageable, and £200 million of that is for nurses’ pay.

“And what I would say to the member is, after the last Executive meeting, I happened to have a meeting with the Royal College of Nursing and Nicola Ranger, the chief executive, (having) flown in from London, and she made it very clear that they had had enough.

“She also made clear that last time they went on strike, they felt they were too soft, and that their message did not land properly.

“So they are balloting their members with regard to strike action, not industrial action, strike action specifically, and they’ve said if they’re going out on strike this time, there’ll be no derogations, there will be no mitigations.

“So, unless something changes, I’m afraid we have to anticipate nurses on the street by mid-November. And what that does to the waiting list initiative in the programme for government, what it does to health and social care and delivery, is just massive.”