Colchester Hospital nurses begin two-day strike action

NHS frontline workers at Colchester Hospital, in Turner Road, formed picket lines outside the healthcare facility’s main entrance today, as well as on the roadside.

The impassioned employees, standing defiantly in solidarity, held aloft placards in order to get their message across and chanted “protect the patients, save the NHS”.

The nurses, all members of the Royal College of Nursing, are fighting for a pay increase of 19 per cent, but also fear low staffing numbers are endangering patients.

Nathan Gladman, 35, from Colchester, is a main outpatients healthcare assistant who has worked at Colchester Hospital for nearly 14 years.

He said: “I have never seen it come to this and so it is really sad we are here today but ultimately the Government is not listening.

“Nurses and staff are leaving in huge numbers and when I worked on the wards sometimes it was two healthcare assistant and two nurses to 30 poorly patients.

“There were times where I would see student nurses crying in the cupboards and people would burn out – they are emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted.

“It is unstainable and a really sad state of affairs now but this is the last resort.

“We want more staff to join and more staff to stay and the only way that is going to happen is if you pay people fairly and that will then improve conditions.

“We are so short-staffed as it is but it is getting dangerous now and affecting the public and people’s loved ones and it is simply a disgrace.

“We are doing this so we are heard and it makes a change because something has to give and you have to be proactive and stand-up for what is right.

“If we don’t do something now it will get worse. I am very grateful to the people who are supporting us.”

Anna Swan, 64, whose children also work in the NHS, has been nursing for more than four decades and has spent 37 years working at Colchester Hospital.

She said: “I am very frightened for the NHS - it is crumbling around us, the pressures on it are enormous, and the resources we have seem to be dwindling every day.

“The pressures of the job are just horrendous compared to what they were 30 years ago and we have become a victim of our own success.

“The patients are sicker and are having more advanced procedures but stay in for a shorter period of time which means the turnaround on the wards is much greater.

“We are doing all that with less staff than ever.

“It means everything having public support because we are also ordinary members of the public just doing our job and it is wonderful to see.

“This is more than about the money. I love the NHS and it matters so much to me.

"We rely on it and expect it to be there when we need it but I am fearful for the future.”

Anna apologised to patients whose appointments may have been postponed due to the strikes, but said nurses were left with no choice but to act.

She said: “I really feel for everyone who has had an appointment postponed – why would I not? I am a nurse because I care about people.

“But this is about the health service of now, the health service of tomorrow, and the health service to come, when we are all going to need it even more than ever.

“I am really sorry appointments have been postponed but we need to preserve the health service and unfortunately this has turned out to be the way to try and do it.

“The support of the public means everything – they need us as much as we need them.”

Katie Vargas headed to Colchester Hospital to show support to the striking nurses, saying she believes it is good for their morale to see they have the public’s backing.

She said: “The health service is so important to all of us and they work incredibly hard – they are under enormous emotional pressure.

“I know people who work in the NHS and I have seen how exhausted and at the end of their tether they are.

“I think it is really important they get decent pay for the hard work they do and above all better working conditions as well.

“We have such a shortage of nurses and my family depends on the health service so we need a good NHS for everybody.”

Another member of the public, a patient at Colchester Hospital who did not wish to be named, said he was torn over the action being taken by the nurses.

He said: “Some of the nurses are angels but I don’t support them 100 per cent. They want more money but there are people with a lot less money than them.

“Without a doubt there is not enough staff and if you had asked me six months I would have said they can have whatever they want, but now I’m not so sure.”

Nick Hulme is the chief executive of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Trust which runs Colchester Hospital.

The healthcare boss said: “We have planned for all eventualities to keep our patients safe – this our top priority.

“We value all our staff and understand the importance of good pay and conditions for individuals and their families, as well as for wider NHS staff retention and recruitment.

“While pay is a matter for Government and trade unions, we want to see a resolution as soon as possible.

“We want to make sure we can continue to focus on delivering high quality and compassionate patient care to anyone in our communities who needs it.”

Pam Cox, representative for New Town and Christ Church, visited picketers outside Colchester Hospital yesterday in a show of support.

She fears the NHS has reached a “real crisis point”.

Speaking at the strike Pam said: “I am supporting the nurses for lots of reason.

“I come from a nursing family - my two older sisters are nurses and my mother was a nurse so it is steeped in my family.

“Nurses would not come out on strike lightly and the fact the Royal College of Nursing does not have a history of striking but feels compelled to do this is telling.

“The NHS has reached a real crisis point and it now needs a new funding settlement and a new work plan and training needs to reorganising.

“We need better pay for staff and we need to make an effort to retain staff because retention is a problem due working conditions becoming intolerable.”

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