Many Brits back nurses going on strike

A new poll has shown that many Brits support nurses embarking on their first ever strike in the British nursing union’s 106-year history. 

The nurses who began the strike today, December 15, want a 19% pay rise, arguing they have suffered a decade of real-terms cuts and that low pay means staff shortages and unsafe care for patients.

The widely admired nursing profession will shut down parts of the NHS, which since its founding in 1948 has developed national treasure status for being free at the point of use, hitting healthcare provision when it is already stretched in winter and with backlogs at record levels due to COVID delays.

An Ipsos poll found 52% support the strikes with only 27% against. It was conducted after struggling NHS workers at a trust were offered foodbank vouchers.

The government in Scotland avoided a nursing strike by holding talks on pay, an outcome that the Royal College of Nursing had hoped for in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.