Nurse who treated Boris Johnson for Covid says she's 'enough' as ​​strikes escalate

Jenny McGee - who quit last year over 'disrespect' for the profession - has blasted the government as the MRC warned that walkouts should be more prevalent in January

Jenny McGee pictured in 2020 with Boris Johnson before quitting (

Image: PA)

The nurse who treated Boris Johnson, who had Covid, says NHS staff are 'enough' - as union leaders warn strikes are set to 'escalate' in January.

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Jenny McGee resigned last year citing the government's salary offer and the profession's "disrespect" for her decision.

She spoke after tens of thousands of members of the Royal College of Nursing staged the first nationwide work stoppage in the union's 106-year history yesterday.

Another 12-hour strike will follow on Tuesday - and the MRC could announce new strike dates for January as early as next week if Tory ministers do not reopen talks on the 4.75% wage offer.

RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen told the BBC's Question Time last night: 'As time goes by - sadly if this government doesn't talk to us and come in not in a room - I'm afraid it will get out of hand."

Ms McGee, who cared for the then Prime Minister in intensive care at St Thomas's Hospital in central London in 2020, said nurses 'cannot provide the care that we so desperately want to lavish” – and that they “just want to be paid a fair wage”.

The critical care nurse told Talk TV: 'I think there's just real concern about what's going on in our profession.

"We are terribly, terribly understaffed: we have 50,000 vacancies across the country and we see it in services.

"We find that when we work, we don't have enough nurses on our wards.

"We feel nurses are leaving the profession in droves.

"I think they're leaving because we've had enough, we have so much pressure and responsibility on our shoulders. We're busy every shift.

Pat Cullen explained that the strikes could become widespread, because not all the hospitals which voted for industrial action walked out...