Rail strikes: Over half (58%) of nurses concerned rail strikes will further impact quality of care as NHS faces ‘intolerable pressure’

• Over half (58%) of nurses state the rail strikes will impact quality of care, at a time when the NHS and social care services are already facing ‘intolerable pressure’
• Nine in ten (90%) of nurses & healthcare workers say they’ll be unable to get to work as a result of the rail strikes
• Four in ten (43%) worried emergency patients will have to wait longer to receive care, with 40% predicting the rail strikes will lead to longer wait times overall, at a time when wait times are already at record levels.

23rd November 2022, London, United Kingdom - New research has found over half (58%) of nurses and health and social care workers are concerned rail strikes will further exacerbate the issues surrounding quality of healthcare. The timing comes when healthcare professionals are already under ‘intolerable pressure’ as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. 

A study of over 1,000 nurses, health and social care workers, conducted by Florence, the healthcare platform using technology to help tackle the shortage of healthcare staff globally, found that nine in ten (90%) healthcare workers will be unable to get to work as a result of the rail strikes across the country. Well over two-fifths (45%) of healthcare workers are worried it will lead to people having to wait longer for appointments, causing additional strain on the NHS.

With one of the highest vacancy rates and longest wait list in years*, the rail strikes are an external factor that is compounding the long list of internal challenges the NHS and care sector are currently facing. A staggering two thirds (63%) of healthcare workers are having to choose between food and fuel and one in five (14%) of nurses have started using food banks since the cost of living crisis began.

Dr. Charles Armitage, CEO and founder of Florence, commented: “Healthcare workers are already worried about how the NHS will cope over the winter months, now we’re seeing concern about how the rail strikes will affect the quality of care with staff unable to travel. We’re at a crisis point when it comes to NHS and healthcare staffing and we need the government to do something about it. The government needs to look at a long term strategy and predict the trajectory for decades to come - we can’t be in a position where a rail strike is leaving the workforce on its knees.”