The evacuation will affect emergency departments, intensive care, cancer wards and other wards
A judge has ruled that the upcoming strike in England by members of the Royal College of Nursing should stop for one day.
The exit process is scheduled to begin at 20:00 GMT on Sunday and will continue until 20:00 on Tuesday.
It must now end on Bank Holiday Monday, after the case was brought by the government in the High Court.
The judge ruled that RCN’s six-month mandate to strike would have expired by Tuesday.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay took legal action after NHS employers said they believed the last day of a planned strike was not covered by the state as polls closed on 2 November 2022 at midday.
She said this could invalidate the entire strike and urged the government to look into the issue.
The government ended up objecting to part of the strike that took place on May 2, Tuesday.
The judge ordered RCN to pay for the hearing, saying the union had shown “a high degree of unreasonableness”. #
Justice Linden said the outcome was “inevitable” and “rather than grasp the nettles and concede” the case was forced to court.
Ahead of the court hearing, RCN said it would have to accept the ruling because it “would not do anything illegal”.
However, she accused Barkley of bullying nurses and using “strict anti-union legislation”.
After the verdict was handed down, Barclay said: “I am very much in favor of the right to industrial action within the framework of the law – but the government cannot stand by and let an apparently illegal strike proceed.
“Both the NHS and my team have tried to solve this problem without resorting to legal action.”
Patients at risk
The strike was called earlier this month after RCN members rejected an England government offer of a 5% pay rise for 2023-24 and a one-off payment of at least £1,655 for last year’s salary increase, depending on the grade of the employee.
The union announced that its members rejected the offer by 54% to 46%.
The strike will include NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, cancer wards and other wards.
Nurses have already pulled out twice this year — on February 6 and 7 and on January 18 and 19 — but on those dates there were exemptions, so nursing cover has been maintained in critical areas.
The government said the strike, with no national exceptions, would put patients at risk.
RCN said it would vote members to further strike once its current mandate expires.
RCN general secretary and chief executive, Pat Cullen, said: “Nursing staff will be angered but not crushed by today’s temporary order. It might even make them more determined to vote in a re-election next month for another six months. Nobody wants strikes until Christmas.” Birth – we should be in the negotiating room, not the courtroom, today.”
Other unions are also consulting members on the wage deal, which is offered to all NHS staff, other than doctors and senior managers.
The largest health union, Unison, has accepted the deal, as have midwives.
But the radiographers refused.
All health unions will meet with ministers on Tuesday to reveal whether a majority of staff support the Agenda for Change wage deal.
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