On the 20th of December, nurses will go on strike in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland on Thursday and Tuesday. During the strike, cancer patients will receive emergency and clinically urgent surgery, according to the Royal College of Nursing union.
Concerns have been expressed over the care of cancer patients during the impending nurses’ strikes, with some chemotherapy appointments being rescheduled as a result.
The head of cancer care for NHS England, urged Pat Cullen, the leader of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union, to protect “life-saving” and “urgent” cancer surgery from Thursday’s walkouts.
In a second letter obtained by the Times, the chief nursing officer for England, Dame Ruth May, states that chemotherapy appointments are being rescheduled and requests assurances regarding the care of terminally ill patients during the 15th and 20th December strikes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Dame Cally expressed “great worry over the lack of a national exemption for urgent cancer surgery.”
A derogation is the exemption of an individual or an entire service from participating in strike action.
She continued, “I appreciate how incredibly challenging these issues are for all parties involved, but our common goal is to ensure that we do not cause harm to cancer patients undergoing life-saving treatment to achieve cure or prolongation of life.
“It is crucial that there be a clear and consistent judgment on urgent cancer by the national exemption for chemotherapy and intensive care.”
The RCN insists there would be an exemption for emergency cancer services, as well as mental health, learning disability, and autism services, and stated that the public supports its stance.
“The public supports our campaign and is aware that patients require a robust nursing workforce, but there are record losses currently jeopardizing patient safety,” the union said.
Dame Cally stated that the strikes will certainly result in canceled procedures for P1 and P2 cancer patients.
In her letter, she explained that P1 surgery “is life-saving, time-sensitive, and must be maintained,” but P2 surgery is “urgent cancer surgery with a time frame that must be adhered to.”
She stated that rescheduling surgeries “is likely to result in delayed operations and inferior outcomes” and that many of these patients will migrate into the P1 category, necessitating life-saving procedures.
In its answer to the letter, the RCN assured that cancer patients will receive emergency and clinically urgent surgery, stating that there was “no uncertainty” about this.
A union official added, “This is a politically motivated smear campaign by a government that is failing cancer patients.”
In their email with Ms. Cullen, the chief nursing officer for England and her equivalents in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland raised several patient safety concerns.
“Many chief nurses/directors of nursing are, of course, RCN members, and some have expressed disappointment with the RCN,” the authors stated.
Despite the union’s agreement that chemotherapy would be exempt nationally, chemotherapy is being rescheduled during strike days at several hospitals, according to the chief nursing officers.
They said that “there are examples of some trusts being asked to submit waiver paperwork for chemotherapy, and organizations are currently prepared to reschedule chemotherapy beginning on the 15th and 20th of December.”
To “alleviate unnecessary distress” for palliative patients and their families, the chief nurses also requested reassurance that community nursing services offering “end-of-life care and good pain and symptom treatment” will continue.
The RCN announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to exempt emergency cancer services and “front-door” urgent care assessment and admission units for pediatric-only A&E departments from the strike.
“This letter is now obsolete, as we have already met with leading clinicians and agreed on crucial points.” “Patient safety is everyone’s top priority,” added the union spokeswoman.
The violent letters exchange occurred at a time when a new report indicates that the NHS is serving fewer patients than it did before the pandemic, despite having more funding and personnel, indicating a long-term COVID impact on the performance of the health service.
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the NHS conducted 14% fewer emergency admissions, 14% fewer outpatient appointments, and 11% fewer elective and maternity admissions in the most recent month of data compared to the same month in 2019.
Why did discussions break down?
Health Secretary Steve Barclay was accused of refusing to negotiate on salary, which led to the breakdown of talks between the unions and the government on Monday to avert a strike.
The union is requesting a wage increase of 5% over the RPI rate of inflation, which was 14.2% in October, although Ms. Cullen has alluded to the possibility of a compromise if the government is willing to talk on pay.
Ministers have consistently stated that they cannot afford pay raises that exceed the rate of inflation, yet they have reportedly accepted the independent pay review body’s suggestion of a £1,400 increase.
The Rail, Maritime, and Transport union (RMT) began the first of two 48-hour strikes against Network Rail and 14 train operators on Tuesday, which will last through Friday.
The strikes coincide with planned industrial action in a variety of UK industries, including healthcare – with paramedics also intending to strike – postal workers, Border Force agents, firefighters, driving instructors, airport luggage handlers, bus operators, and even coffin makers.
