Healthcare workers from 55 NHS trusts in England are on strike for two days in a bitter pay dispute, while thousands of patients have their operations cancelled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the previous nurses’ strike in December, nearly 30,000 operations and appointments had to be rescheduled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to NHS data, 4,567 operations and 25,009 outpatient appointments were cancelled between December 15 and December 20 of last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, 7.2 million people in England are on waiting lists for operations, including 400,000 who have already been waiting a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nurses will be on strike for 13 hours on Wednesday and Thursday, from 7.30 a.m. to 8.30 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced two additional, larger strikes for next month, while the GMB union is expected to declare additional ambulance worker strikes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to new figures released on Wednesday, government minister Robert Jenrick stated that public sector workers could not receive “significant” pay increases because inflation is only just beginning to ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inflation has dropped to 10.5% from 10.7% last month.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Healthcare workers from 55 NHS trusts in England are on strike for two days in a bitter pay dispute, while thousands of patients have their operations cancelled. After the previous … <\/p>\n