NHS strikes: Midwives and physiotherapists to hold walkouts

Midwives have become the latest group of Welsh NHS staff to announce strike action.

Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) will walkout from 0800 to 1600 GMT on 7 February.

The union said the sector has seen a decade of pay freezes and said the deal on the table is an "insult". It comes as physiotherapists announced a strike planned for the same day.

The Welsh government said it recognises the strength of feeling among workers.

The RCM said the action will not impact services for women in labour or needing emergency care.

It comes despite talks with the Health Minister Eluned Morgan who offered health workers a one-off payment earlier this month.

It comes as ambulance staff are on strike across Wales and England.

For the first time, the Welsh Ambulance Service has drafted in military personnel to help.

Chief executive of the Welsh Ambulance Service, Jason Killens, said on Monday about 20 military personnel were working alongside clinical managers who were redeployed from their other roles "onto the front line".

The RCM wants to see a pay rise above the rate of inflation. It said most midwives had been offered around 4%.

Both midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) will be walking out.

As well as the strike, they will claim payment for any overtime worked in the week following 7 February.

Julie Richards, the RCM's director for Wales, said: "There is a growing crisis in Welsh maternity services. We are losing midwives because they simply cannot sustain the incredible effort they are having to make to ensure services are safe.

"They have also seen a decade and more of pay freezes and pay stagnation watching their pay packets significantly shrink with real terms pay cuts.

"To offer them a pay deal well below half of the rate of inflation is simply an insult that does a massive disservice to our maternity staff."

Meanwhile, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) said industrial action would go ahead on 7 February.

The CSP represents 1,500 physiotherapy staff within the Welsh NHS and achieved a strike mandate in December after members voted for industrial action.

"No-one wants to strike but physiotherapy staff have been left with no choice," Mr Morgan said.

"Patients are struggling to get the care they need because a decade of under-investment in the NHS has led to chronic workforce shortages."

A Welsh government spokesman said: "We recognise and respect the strength of feeling among our healthcare workers, which has been expressed through the decision to take industrial action.

"We will continue to work to bring together trade unions, employers and government to deliver the best possible outcomes for staff, while continuing to call on the UK government to use the funding it has to provide a fair pay offer to NHS staff and enable us to do the same in Wales."

Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister, Russell George, said: "It is a shame the Labour government in Cardiff Bay was unable to prevent this declaration of strike action by physiotherapists. The same goes for nurses, and midwives, and ambulance workers, and teachers.

"I fear that until Labour ministers retire the weathered handbook that says 'blame Westminster' whenever they are challenged for its poor record in office, these strikes won't end, public services will not recover, and the people of Wales will continue paying the price."