BRITAIN’S senior nurses have warned lives are being put at risk by the Royal College of Nursing’s failure to protect crucial services.
Chief Nursing Officer for England Ruth May and her counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have written to the union to say they feel “let down”.
They warn the RCN that sepsis and infections could claim lives as a result of its refusal to fully staff acute wards and A&E units.
They have urged it to allow nurses to cross picket lines to cover emergency services and cancer therapy ahead of strike action tomorrow and next Tuesday.
Around 6,000 ops are likely to be ditched tomorrow by pay row strikes at around 45 hospitals.
Some 64,000 outpatient appointments, including MRI scans and cancer check-ups, are set to be abandoned.
Meanwhile, Royal Mail staff will hold another 48-hour strike from today. The Communication Workers Union has rejected an enhanced nine per cent pay offer spread over 18 months.
Royal Mail said: “The CWU is striking at our busiest time, deliberately holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families.”
Britain lost 417,000 working days to strikes in October, the highest number in 11 years, said the Office for National Statistics.
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