NHS Employers has written to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warning that plans for a 48-hour strike are unlawful as they fall outside the union’s six-month mandate, the Guardian reported.
Tens of thousands of nurses will walk out across England from 8pm on April 30 after rejecting a pay offer.
The union secured a six-month mandate for industrial action last November 2 – but the NHS reportedly claims this does not extend to May 2.
Lawyers representing the RCN are said to have told the NHS they would “forcefully resist” any attempt to seek a high court injunction to block the strike.
The RCN will seek a fresh mandate for industrial action for June to December, with General Secretary Pat Cullen warning that strikes could continue until Christmas.
Daniel Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said: “The RCN ballot for industrial action ended at midday on 2nd November 2022 and allows the union six months to undertake any action approved by that ballot.
“NHS Employers has written to the RCN stating our view – on behalf of Trusts in England, and with clear legal advice – that the RCN’s mandate for industrial action ends at midnight on Monday 1st May.
“We have therefore asked the RCN to amend its guidance to its members regarding any action planned for Tuesday 2nd May 2023. We are in ongoing exchanges with the RCN on this matter.”
The Standard has contacted the RCN for comment.
Separately, the NHS Confederation on Thursday urged the RCN to reconsider staffing critical services during the upcoming strike.
Derogations are areas of care where unions agree to provide staffing during industrial action, such as mental health services, cancer or A&E.
In December, the RCN agreed to some derogations but has said there will not be any this time as it escalates its industrial action.
In a statement, the NHS Confederation said mental health leaders are “very concerned” that a lack of derogations would run the risk of “a severe and sustained impact” on services.
The NHS Confederation said the RCN’s current stance could mean people become a risk to themselves, “including by self-harming or in extreme cases taking their own lives, as well as to others”.
Responding, an RCN spokesman said: “Nursing staff don’t want to go on strike.
“We have given the NHS and Government two weeks to plan for this and it’s the responsibility of the employer to maintain safe staffing levels.”
Separately, medical leaders on Thursday said that an independent organisation must be brought in to broker a deal between junior doctors and the Government “for the sake of patients and the NHS”.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges called on Health Secretary Steve Barclay and the British Medical Association (BMA) to “rapidly engage” with a conciliation service to break the deadlock.
NHS data showed nearly 200,000 hospital appointments and procedures in England had to be rescheduled when more than 47,000 junior doctors staged a 96-hour walkout last week over pay. The BMA has warned that further strikes will take place this year without a “credible” pay offer.
The BMA last week suggested using conciliation service Acas to broker talks, but Mr Barclay has insisted that he will not negotiate with the union until it drops its 35 per cent pay demand.
