Angry nurses 'could be driven to strike'

Nurses have begun talking about industrial action for the first time in years as the row over financial problems in the NHS continues to escalate.

Leaders of the two largest nursing unions warned that their members are becoming so angry and demoralised by rising deficits, falling pay and redundancies that they could work to rule or even take strike action, adding to the pressure on the Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said in a speech: "We are being told that somehow jobs will be disappeared or left unfilled without patients and staff feeling the pain - what utter nonsense. Unison cannot stand by and watch staff suffer in this climate of fear. We will be supporting members who feel that they have no option left other than industrial action."

Unison counts 400,000 nurses, healthcare assistants and other people who work in the NHS among its members.

Beverly Malone, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), stopped short of threatening industrial action, but warned that her 365,000 members could cause disruption by refusing to plug staffing gaps by working unpaid overtime.

She said that the average nurse currently works one day extra every week in unpaid overtime. "Industrial action is way, way, down the line," she insisted.

But asked about a whether a work-to-rule was being considered, Ms Malone said: "Oh, definitely. That has been a consideration. We would want to come together and say this is something we are seriously supporting as a college. I would want it to be organised."

RCN rules state that industrial action cannot be taken if it is detrimental to the well-being of patients, but members are allowed to refuse to work overtime or refuse to have their shifts changed at short notice.

Ms Malone said: "We are saying, ministers beware ... you are skating on thin ice. Ministers need to remember that NHS services ... rely on the goodwill of nurses. Undermine and lose that goodwill and our healthcare system will be plunged into crisis."

Ms Hewitt is due to speak at the RCN conference in Bournemouth on Wednesday.