'Robust plans' in place at Wigan's hospitals as nurses prepare to strike in pay dispute

Staff from Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) – which runs sites including Wigan Infirmary, Leigh Infirmary, Wrightington Hospital and Thomas Linacre Centre – will be on the picket line on Wednesday and Thursday.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are walking out at 55 trusts across England in a call for improved pay and better staffing.

The union has already announced further strike dates next month – on February 6 and 7 – if progress in the dispute is not made by the end of January. That will involve 73 NHS trusts, including WWL and North West Ambulance Service.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “It is with a heavy heart that nursing staff are striking this week and again in three weeks.

“We are doing this in a desperate bid to get ministers to rescue the NHS. The only credible solution is to address the tens of thousands of unfilled jobs – patient care is suffering like never before.

“My olive branch to governments – asking them to meet me halfway and begin negotiations – is still there. They should grab it.”

Downing Street urged union leaders to call off the action.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Obviously we would continue to urge unions to step back from strike action, which will have an impact on patient care.

“We know in the first round of strikes 11,000 appointments were cancelled. So it’s inevitable that this, on a larger scale, will have a larger impact and that is hugely regrettable at a time when the health service is under significant pressure.

“We feel like there have been constructive talks with the unions and we’d want those to continue rather than taking to the picket lines.”

Bosses at WWL have said there are “robust plans” are in place to ensure patients can still receive essential care.

But some services will be affected, with the urgent treatment centre in Wigan only open from 8pm to 1am and the centre in Leigh closed on both days.

The strike action comes just weeks after the trust declared a “critical incident”, amid high numbers of people attending A&E and delays in patients being discharged.

A trust spokesman said: “Please be assured that robust plans are in place to continue to maintain a focus on protecting essential life and limb services such as accident and emergency (A&E), maternity, emergency theatres and intensive care unit (ICU). These tried and tested plans are in place to manage any disruption and patient safety, as always, will continue to remain our top priority.

“If you have an appointment planned for either of the dates that strike action is planned, unless otherwise advised directly by WWL, all patients are asked to attend their appointments as normal. You do not need to contact WWL, anyone whose appointments or care may be impacted will be contacted directly by our teams to reschedule a new date as soon as possible.”

They urged people to use NHS 111 in the first instance if they need medical care and advice, unless it is an emergency, when they should call 999.