Nursing Strikes in the UK - NHS Medicine Hot Topics & Medicine Interview Questions
Updated: 3 days ago
You will need to provide some examples of hot topics you can apply during your medical school interviews.
Here you will learn everything you need to know about the nursing strikes that occurred in the UK.
This includes the ethical implications and some example medicine interview questions and model answers for you to look at.
Combine your reading here with medicine interview tutoring to boost your answers and delivery.
Summary of Nursing Strikes in the UK for Medical Interviews
Nurses have been striking across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland on multiple dates from December to February 2023. RCN members in Northern Ireland took strike action over the 2022-23 pay offer on 15 and 20 December 2023.
Strike action was also planned in Scotland, but was paused as the Scottish government engaged in dialogue with trade unions before any other government did
Nurses are striking due to years of real-term pay cuts, and understaffing that they say endangers patient safety and constitutes unfair working conditions
When nurses strike, measures are taken to ensure that safe staffing levels for life-preserving care are maintained
Planned strikes for March were paused as governments agreed to meet with union leaders for talks, which are still ongoing
It is unclear whether an agreement will be reached in this set of talks - if not, then more strike action could well take place
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What do I Need to Know About the 2023 UK Nursing Strikes for Medical School Interviews?
Why are nurses striking?
The UK is currently in a cost-of-living crisis. Inflation, per the Retail Price Index, was 13.4% in both December and January. This means that the cost of living - including everything from food and clothes to mortgage payments and interest on loans - was calculated to be 13.4% higher than at the same time last year.
When considering pay increases against inflation, nurses are now 20% worse off than they were a decade ago. High levels of inflation have accelerated this. The government offered nurses an average pay rise of 4.75%, meaning that whilst their wages would increase they would still have less ‘purchasing power’ due to high inflation.
The Royal College of Nursing - a trade union of over half a million nurses, midwives, and nursing assistants - was seeking a pay increase of 5% above inflation - it is important to note that the recent 13.4% figure is higher than when the request was made.
On average, 500 nurses are leaving the NHS every week due to low pay, understaffing, and stressful working conditions. This is impacting not only nurses’ well-being but also patient care and safety. As many as two-thirds of nurses in general practice are considering leaving the profession within one year due to low pay. Nurses argue that only better pay and working conditions can halt this crisis.
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What do strikes mean for patient care?
Legally, strikes are not allowed to risk patient safety to the extent that they could cause death or serious harm. As such, staffing levels are maintained at the minimum level possible to maintain essential services such as A&E, intensive care, life-prolonging treatment and time-sensitive diagnostic procedures.
Employers, rather than nurses, are responsible for implementing this care. Nurses are encouraged by the RCN to inform bosses of their intent to strike so that other NHS staff can be drafted in for cover, or some nurses can be informed that they are required to work to provide critically important services.
As part of the reasoning for the strikes is to ensure safe staffing levels so that patients can be properly cared for, it is a priority of the RCN to ensure that no harm befalls patients due to the strikes.
When nurses strike, their employer can legally withhold their pay and not contribute to their pensions on strike days. However, the RCN provides ‘strike benefits’ to striking nurses whose pay has been deducted.
What is the current status of the strikes in the UK?
In Scotland, strikes were voted for but did not occur as the Scottish government agreed to engage the RCN in talks. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, strikes have taken place across the country. Currently, strikes are paused everywhere as the UK government negotiates with RCN leaders to try to reach an agreement that will result in further strikes being cancelled.
Nursing strikes are more supported by the public than other strikes taking place across the UK, so the government is incentivised to work with the RCN to avoid public backlash.
When did the nurses strike?
RCN members in Northern Ireland took strike action over the 2022-23 pay offer on 15 and 20 December 2023
👉🏻 Read more: Common NHS Hot Topics Questions
Key Ethical and Social Issues Related to the Nursing Strikes in the UK
Is it ethical for nurses to strike?
One important question is on the ethics of nurses striking. Proponents argue that it is ethical on two grounds.
First, nurses - as with any other employees - have the right to fair pay and working conditions. The importance of their work doesn’t undercut that. If anything, it enhances that right further. Second, nurses are striking for patient safety. Striking now can prevent long-term harm befalling patients due to unsafe staffing levels and a tired, burnt-out workforce.
Opponents of the strikes contend that they are unethical due to risks posed to patient safety. Evidence relating to previous NHS strikes has shown that there is no harm to patient safety from strikes occurring (1,2) however this is the largest nursing strike in the UK’s history so there is an argument that precedent may not be able to sufficiently predict the outcomes.
👉🏻 Read more: Answering Medicine Ethics Questions
What impact might the strikes have on perceptions of the NHS?
Another important issue relating to the strikes is how it may affect perceptions of the NHS. Just over 50% of people are currently satisfied with the NHS, and that number has fallen over time with decreases in real-term NHS spending and staffing levels.
Given this, many argue that the strikes could improve the perceptions of the NHS. The public is mostly in support of striking nurses, and if the government responds positively then it could improve perceptions of how well-funded and safe health services in the UK are.
However, others argue that nurses striking could look unprofessional and patients may fear being put at risk. As strikes go on for longer, public support for them drops - however, most still blame the government rather than NHS staff.
Top tips for Medicine Interview Questions on the Nursing Strikes
You could get questions about any of the above topics or strikes more generally, in your medical school interviews. Some top tips to consider are:
Any questions about nurses, or other members of the MDT, present an opportunity for you to show off your understanding of how important they are to run the NHS. Make sure that you are respectful and supportive of nurses in your answer.
Give an evidence-based answer. Whilst there is much speculation about the potential negative impacts of the strikes, it’s important to engage with the fact that previous strikes have not endangered patients - whether you support or oppose them.
The BMA supports the nursing strikes and encourages doctors to show solidarity. You should recognise this in your interviews.
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Example Medicine Interview Questions and Answers on the Nursing Strikes
Why do you think that NHS nurses have been striking this year?
Nurses are striking for a multitude of very good reasons - just as plenty of professionals across the UK have been doing this year and last.
First of all, nurses are struggling with the cost of living crisis. Over a decade of real-term pay cuts have led to nurses being 20% worse off than they were in 2012, which - to me - shows a lack of respect for the critically important and challenging work that they do. This lack of compensation for doing a job that is consistently getting harder due to low staffing levels has led to an appetite for taking strike action.
Second, nurses are striking for patient safety. With all the challenges of the profession, around 500 nurses leave the NHS every week. I’ve personally seen the impact of low staffing levels on my work experience placements, and I spoke with multiple nurses who expressed that they were doing an amount of work that would have been covered by two nurses at an earlier point in their career.
Some wards are rarely reaching what would be considered to be normal staffing levels, which puts patients at risk because regardless of how much effort staff put in, it’s hard to make up for low numbers.
Given this, the RCN hopes - just as I do - that the strikes can prompt real change in nurses’ working conditions that lead to improvements in their well-being and patient safety in the NHS.
👉🏻 Read more: Answering Medicine Ethics Questions
Do you support the 2023 NHS nursing strikes? Why or why not?
I absolutely support the right of nurses to strike and hope that they get the outcome that they deserve and desire.
Nurses are a vitally important part of the NHS. They deserve - as all workers do - to receive fair compensation for doing their jobs. Over the last decade, being a nurse has become much harder due to lower funding and staffing levels - but the amount of money that they are paid, in real terms, has decreased. This clearly disparity needs to be resolved.
I understand concerns about patient safety during the strikes - of course, preserving the lives and well-being of the public is what the NHS is for. However, nurses are taking actions to mitigate the impact on patient well-being, for instance, ensuring that all necessary and life-prolonging treatments, as well as time-sensitive diagnostic procedures, can take place.
Additionally, I have read systematic reviews of the literature on previous NHS strikes that have shown that they have not harmed patient well-being.
Even if there is a short-term impact on patient well-being, I think that this is necessary to prompt safe staffing levels and prevent long-term damage to NHS staffing that is much more harmful to patients.
Given these reasons - I strongly support the 2023 NHS nursing strikes, just as the BMA does.
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Practice Medical Interview Nursing Strike Questions
Why did the nurses strike in the NHS?
What are NHS nurses doing to ensure patient safety during the strikes?
Whose responsibility is it to minimise disruption to NHS services during the nursing strikes?
What do you know about the NHS nursing strikes over the last year?
What is the RCN?
What can you tell me about the staffing levels of NHS nurses these days?
How do you think the public feels about NHS nurses striking?
How do the NHS nurses' strikes impact public perceptions of the NHS?
What proportion of nurses do you think support and oppose the ongoing strikes? Why might they support or oppose them?
What makes an NHS strike ethical or unethical?
👉🏻 Read more: 280 Common Medicine Interview Questions
Conclusion
Overall, nursing strike questions can provide a valuable opportunity to reflect on the ethical challenges that can arise in medicine and to demonstrate your ability to think critically about these issues.
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