Nurses in England are taking part in a fresh strike, in what NHS bosses say is the largest industrial action so far.
The RCN previously rejected the government's pay offer and announced this new strike, which is their third this year in the dispute over pay, recruitment and retention in the NHS. However, it said discussions over the weekend had secured "a number of national agreements" to ensure staff could provide care "to protect life and limb services".
This means a small number of RCN members will be asked to work to provide a minimum standard of cover and meet the legal requirement on trade unions for life-and-limb cover to be provided.Ministers and NHS chiefs had previouslyOn Sunday, Health Secretary Mr Barclay said the strikes would put "more pressure on the NHS and will be incredibly disruptive for patients".
"We're going to find that we're going to be unable to provide anything other than life or limb preserving care." It was deemed a critical service by the RCN so members were asked to stay at work while colleagues from other parts of the NHS took to the picket line.She said: "I feel dismayed. I and all my colleagues had been hoping it would not come to this."