Shropshire's RJAH hospital nurses join strike action

Staff at the RJAH Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen joined colleagues across the country in strikes over pay and working conditions.

Striking staff stood along Twmpath Lane – the first of two days of action this week, with a second to be held on Thursday, January 19.

One nurse on the picket line, Rebecca Hammond explained that there were many reasons why they were standing on the picket line.

She said: "We all voted in a ballot to strike regarding fair pay for nurses.

"It is also about working conditions and increasing staff, recruitment and retention in order to maintain patient safety.

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"It is for a whole host of reasons and pretty much about the survival of the NHS as a whole."

Those on the picket hope the action will lead the Government to listen.

Rebecca said: "We want to raise our voices as a collective and make the Government have to listen to our cries for help.

"We have been talking about the issues of the NHS for the last 10 and 12 years and the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated all of the things which were broken in the NHS.

"We can't continue as things are, so we need them to listen to us."

Another nurse, Cameron Bostock spoke about how the cost-of-living crisis has affected his colleagues.

He said: "I can't afford what I used to, my standards of living are dropping.

Cameron Bostock

"I have colleagues who are in dire situations. They can't pay mortgages, rent, fuel bills or petrol in their car.

"We are drawing a line now, we need fair pay for what we do.

"The NHS has worked hard over the last couple of years and nurses just can't do any more."

Rebecca added: "It is about more than just pay for us. Nursing has become a very unattractive profession.

"We are at the breaking point of not being able to have a nursing profession in the future."

Nurses striking at the RJAH at Gobowen

She said she and her colleagues have felt an impact from staffing shortages and a backlog of patients needing to be treated.

On the question of whether the strikes are likely to be resolved, she added: "The only way I can rationalise them not engaging in conversation is that the Government is pushing people to believe there is no way back for the NHS other than to privatise it.

"I don't understand why they are not sitting round a table having conversations with us.

"I hope that I am wrong and that they begin to engage with us."

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