In December 2022, NHS staff took part in the largest nursing strike in the service's history. After Government has "failed to act", according to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), more strikes are being organised this month. On Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th of December, RCN staff will take action again with the aim to gain fair pay and put measures in place to improve patient care with Government assistance.
Locally, this will affect Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
As it stands, wait times are at a record high with 7.21 million people waiting for treatment across the UK.
The Journal has compiled wait times for General Surgery in our local NHS organisational units. The findings were as follows:
| NHS Trust | Average wait time: first outpatient appointment | Average waiting time: treatment |
| Somerset NHS Foundation Trust | 13 weeks | 24 weeks |
| University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS trust | 5 weeks | 23 weeks |
| Royal United Hospitals Bath | 13 weeks | 24 weeks |
Elsewhere in the service, ambulance workers are striking for twenty four hour periods on the 11th and 23rd of January across the UK, including the South West. This year, ambulance workers are likely to see their pay fall to around 4% behind inflation which is one of the key drivers behind their industrial action.
Other emergency services are rising up to demand pay reviews. Firefighters and control staff are currently campaigning their "Fair Pay or Fair Strike" message. 32,500 members of the Fire Brigades Union are balloting on strike action until the 30th January after rejecting an offer for a 5% pay rise. We will report further on how this will affect our area if strikes go ahead.