Nurses strike: Picket line formed outside Alexandra Hospital

The Royal College of Nursing is staging two days of action with picket lines formed up and down the country.

A group of nurses braved the cold weather to make their voices heard outside the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, with many saying they would never have ‘dreamed of themselves striking’.

Rashida Bashir, a theatre sister at the Alex said the working conditions make her feel ‘demoralised’, ‘unvalued’ and ‘disrespected’.

“There is a lack of interest from the government – look at the state of the country.

“None of the nurses standing here would have gone to university to train and qualify for the money we did it because we care.

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“But most of us have to work on our days off to make our pay up.”

Rashida who has worked as a theatre sister for 17 years said staff are leaving to work abroad or work for an agency as the pay is better.

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“Thanks for the post and pans and the claps in the Covid pandemic but we want fair pay,” added Rashida.

Lee Sampson a charge nurse in endoscopy said he is striking for better pay, patient care and working conditions.

Nurses took to the picket line outside the Alexandra Hospital. (Image: Lucy-Ann Jones.)

“We are always understaffed.

“Nurses are going to food banks and using charities.

“I used to get paid more working in a factory.

The Alexandra Hospital. (Image: Lucy-Ann Jones.)

“We need to strike as the cost of living is so expensive and we need to make a stand.”

Lee, whose wife is also a nurse, says car parking, student loan debt and a £110 per year registration fee all add up before ‘you even consider any other bills’.

Lee, aged 40, said: “We want to make a difference for us and our patients.”