Senior Tory says Health Secretary must meet nursing chiefs to prevent strikes

Health Committee Chairman Steve Brine has broken ranks to urge the Government to get to the table with the Royal College of Nursing ( RCN) ahead of the first of its strikes scheduled for Thursday

Health Secretary Steve Barclay is under pressure to prevent health union walkouts (

Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A senior Tory MP has asked the Health Secretary to meet nursing leaders to try to prevent mass walkouts this week.

Health Committee Chairman Steve Brine has broken ranks to urge the government to sit down with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) ahead of the first of its planned strikes on Thursday.

>

Mr. Brine, a former health minister, said patients and the public were "bewildered" by the bitter war between ministers and unions over industrial action.

Today, RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen offered to call off the strikes 'immediately, immediately' if ministers were prepared to start wage talks.

But Health Secretary Steve Barclay rejected the offer and suggested nurses demanding a living wage would take money away to clear the post-Covid backlog in the NHS backlog.

An emergency Cobra meeting has been called this afternoon ahead of walkouts by nurses, paramedics, postal workers, railway staff and Border Force agents in the run-up to Christmas.

No10 has confirmed that a formal request for military support has been made, meaning soldiers will be mobilized to drive ambulances during the industrial action next week.

Nurses are about to quit their salaries (

Picture:

SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The union leaders created...