Some Filipino nurses are joining thousands of their colleagues today for the biggest nursing strike in NHS history. The 19% pay rise demanded by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the world’s largest nursing union, was rejected by the UK government.
Exempt from strike action are nurses working in chemotherapy and dialysis, intensive and critical care, as well as children’s accident and emergency, and neonatal and paediatric intensive care units.
The RCN says that years of nurses’ salary squeeze is compromising patient care and this has led to nurses leaving the NHS. According to the Nuffield Trust, more than 40,000 nurses were reported to have left the NHS in the last year.
Dennis Singson, a Filipino advanced mental health practitioner in East Sussex and an officer of the Philippine Nurses Association UK, fully supports the RCN’s decision to strike. Speaking for himself and not for his organisation, Dennis said, “I know the decision to strike has been extremely difficult and, today is a sad day for all nurses, our profession and the NHS.” Dennis explained that he is not a member of the RCN because of the nature of his role.
“Covid pandemic aside, majority of us are expected to do the work of 3-5 people because of clinical areas being understaffed. There are even hospitals and trusts now that has dedicated food bank – not for patients but for their nursing staff! I think that does say a lot.”
With 23 years of experience as a nurse in the UK, Dennis noted that “The increase in the number of internationally educated nurses (IENs) being recruited to the country also gives us a stark realisation that locals aren’t interested in studying and becoming nurses because it is no longer sustainable.”
Underpaid, overworked
Alroi Abrantes, 30, a Filipino orthopaedic nurse, has decided to join the strike because of his concern for staffing “which is a product of unfair pay.” He arrived in the UK in early 2020 just before Covid-19 cases were detected in the UK.
“In hotels or restaurants, if they are understaffed, they can limit their guests. But in a hospital setting, you can’t do that. You must do the workload of how ever many people are missing…This has become the norm, unfortunately.”
In nursing, there is no undo button…If you give the wrong medication…it can be fatal. You can make a mistake which is easy to do when you are overwhelmed with workload. It’s not safe for you and your patient. That’s why I’m fighting for this strike,” he said.
Fighting for what is fair
Filipinos make up the third largest ethnic group who work for the NHS, the majority of them nurses. Tinig UK has reached out to leading figures in the Filipino nursing community but a couple of them declined to comment while the others have yet to reply as of this writing.
When asked why he appears to be comfortable speaking up on the matter, Alroi said, “Finally I’m in a country where it’s acceptable to for fight what is fair for you and your job. This can’t be done in the Philippines, unfortunately.
Finally, I’m in a place where there are unions that are supportive. I’ve worked through Covid and I’ve seen the worst. I don’t want the system to stay this way. If I’m looking at the long term (situation), things must change. Otherwise, I’d be doing this (heavy workload) forever,” Alroi said. He was previously interviewed by CNN about the industrial action.
For George Bermudez, co-founder of Filipino UK Nurse, an online community for Filipino nurses in the UK, “The strike is fair because nurses need their voices to be heard. It’s about time and I support my brothers and sisters in this cause. The UK is home to such nursing luminaries like Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale, and yet it seems the modern nurses of the UK are not even heard for their basic needs. And so to me this has been a long time coming, it’s definitely time.”
Visa concerns of Filipino nurses
Alroi shared that he knows of other newly recruited Filipino colleagues who would like to join the strike but are concerned about how this may affect their visa status. Meanwhile, others are prevented from joining because they work in critical and emergency care which are exempt from the walkouts.
The RCN explains on their website that taking part in lawful strikes will not affect nurses’ visa. It will also not have a negative impact on “one’s ability to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) or the outcome of an ILR application.
Recruitment of Filipino nurses
The current crisis in nursing pay and recruitment in the NHS takes place at the back of the continued hiring of Filipino nurses to work in the NHS and private healthcare providers. The Philippines remains one of the UK’s top suppliers of nurses as well as carers, healthcare assistants and allied health professionals.
Philippine Nurses Association UK (PNA UK) and Filipino Nurses Association UK (FNA UK) offer support to newly recruited Filipino nurses with welcome packages such as food and beddings, review sessions for the UK’s nursing competency test, and meet-ups.
A second nurses’ strike is scheduled on 20 December.
Top photo credit: Philippine Nurses Association UK
Updated 16 December 2022.
