‘It’s a very sad day for us’

Nurses at Southmead Hospital joined tens of thousands of NHS workers across the country on Thursday in the biggest strike in the health service’s history.

NHS nurses are demanding a pay rise that goes five per cent above inflation to rectify years of real-term pay cuts that they say are pushing people out of the nursing profession and putting patient safety at risk.

The NHS now faces a staffing crisis caused by many leaving the profession due to stress, pay and working conditions.

Meg Cownie, who has been an NHS nurse for six years, was one of those on the picket line at Southmead.

She said: “We’ve got unfair working conditions. The safe ratio is 5:1 and we are doing 12:1 for a lot of shifts. This is the worst it’s ever been.

“Since the pandemic it’s been like this. All the nurses are leaving and they are not being replaced. When I trained it was free, it’s not free anymore so less people are coming through. It’s just not safe.”

Standing next to each other on the picket line were sisters Amelia Bennett and Alison Haynes, who are both nurses at Southmead. Alison has worked there for ten years and Amelia for three.

Sisters Alison Haynes (left) and Amelia Bennett (right) are both nurses at Southmead Hospital

“We’ve haemorrhaged staff after the pandemic,” Alison told Bristol24/7.

“It’s so much worse now. There’s no staff, backlogs are huge, we aren’t getting compensated in any way. Patient safety is now being compromised because there are no staff.

“We need more nurses on the floor, we need to make the nursing course more viable.”

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Amelia added: “It’s a very sad day for us to be honest and it goes against all of our nature to have to do it.

“But it’s got to the point now where we have lost colleagues to poor mental and physical health. There are so many of us off sick with stress. It’s got to the point where people are struggling to make ends meet and it’s just not on.

“As much as it’s about patients’ lives it’s also about the nursing staff’s lives and the healthcare lives.”

Nurses were also on strike on Thursday at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, with dozens gathered in front of the hospital as car drivers honked their horns in support.

On Monday, Eugine Yafele, chief executive of Weston Area Health Trust, told a meeting of the trust’s board that staff “think there is a deep sense of regret they find themselves in this situation that they have got to take this action”.

“I think it is also heartening that there are colleagues who absolutely support industrial action but have signalled their intention to be present for work, and we are still looking for ways in which we recognise their solidarity for those who are taking strike action but absolutely their commitment to be providing care and support for patients during this period.”

Some nurses have chosen to continue working on Thursday over fears for patient safety, with many finding the decision to strike a hugely tough one.

“It’s been a really hard decision for us as a department, never mind country-wide,” said Amelia.

“It’s really difficult to leave your team behind and take the opportunity but when on earth are you going to get this opportunity again?”

Main photo: Mia Vines Booth

Read next:

• ‘Today I strike because enough is enough’
• Shelter staff begin strike over fears of becoming homeless
• Bristol MP calls on government to address staff shortages across NHS and social care
• Uber drivers take to the streets in mass vehicle protest

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