The NHS has today asked Steve Barclay to turn to the courts in a bid to prevent nurses from striking later this month.
Bosses are concerned about the impact the 48 hour walkout planned for April 30 to May 2 will have on patients and believes it is illegal.
The health secretary will now have to decide whether to seek an injunction, with union leaders claiming that would be akin to ‘bullying’ and ‘silencing’ nurses.
In a major escalation of the pay dispute, the Royal College of Nursing have told members to walk out of A&E, critical care and cancer wards for the first time.
But NHS Employers says the union’s six month mandate for industrial action expires at the end of the first day of the strike, voiding the legitimacy of the entire period.
NHS leaders have asked Steve Barclay to turn to the courts in a bid to prevent nurses from striking later this month.
Pat Cullen (pictured: centre), the Royal College of Nursing’s general secretary and chief executive. The union’s planned 48-hour strike on April 30 has come under fire as potentially illegal
The letter sent by Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said health service has ‘responsibilities’ to staff to ensure they act legally but ‘most importantly to our patients for their safety and care’
A letter sent by Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, to Mr Barclay says the health service has ‘responsibilities’ to staff to ensure they act legally but ‘most importantly to our patients for their safety and care’.
He adds: ‘NHS Employers has since 19th April been making the RCN aware of their very real concern that the RCN is incorrectly applying the strike mandates it received following ballots which closed at midday on 2nd November 2022.
‘NHS Employers has invited the RCN to amend its plans for strike action because of these concerns.
‘The RCN has declined to do so, and copies of the correspondence have been shared with your officials.
‘The advice that we have received makes clear it is highly likely that if the notices for industrial actions are incorrect in one respect, then they are incorrect in total and that the strike action for the entire period of 30th April to 2nd May is illegal.
‘I write to ask you to now intervene in this matter on behalf of relevant NHS organisations in England to seek the view of the courts as to whether the strike action planned for 30th April to 2nd May 2023 is legal.
‘I believe that conclusively establishing this position is in the interests of our staff and patients.’
The union is understood to have said it will ‘forcibly resist’ attempts to seek a high court injunction to block industrial action, which they say is lawful.
It has already revealed it will hold a fresh ballot after the strike in a bid to extend its mandate, so it can cause disruption all the way to Christmas.
Pat Cullen, general secretary and chief executive of the RCN, said: ‘The decision of the NHS not to take this further is the right one but ministers need to decide whether to silence nurses.
‘Bullying nurses and dragging us through the highest courts would not be a good look for government.
‘It would show utter contempt for nursing staff. We will make the case for the legality of our action in all forums.’
Nurses represented by the RCN will walkout from 8pm on May 30 after members rejected a government pay offer of a 5 per cent rise and one-off bonus.
Health leaders have warned mental health patients could self-harm, take their own lives or be a risk to others, if nurses plough ahead with plans to escalate their strike action.
More than 500,000 NHS appointments and operations in England have been cancelled as a result of staff striking over pay, with further disruption planned
Almost 200,000 hospital appointments and procedures in England had to be rescheduled when tens of thousands of junior doctors staged a 96-hour strike in a dispute over pay between April 11 and 15.
That was on top of thousands of appointments already cancelled or delayed due to strikes by other unions, including the RCN.
Adding community appointments takes the total impacted since December past half a million.
The NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organisations, said mental health trust leaders are warning of ‘dire consequences’ to the safety of patients as nursing staff numbers are spread ‘even more thinly than usual’.
In a statement, it said mental health leaders are “very concerned that if the Royal College of Nursing stands firm in its decision not to agree derogations for any services, including emergency and critical care, at either a national or local level, and does not agree to exempt high security and inpatient mental units then the risk of a severe and sustained impact on service users cannot be mitigated against.’
The NHS Confederation said the RCN’s current stance could mean people become a risk to themselves, ‘including by self-harming or in extreme cases taking their own lives, as well as to others’.
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