Northern Ireland’s nurses strike as pay lags behind rest of the UK
Chris Toner, an emergency nurse at Northern Ireland’s biggest hospital, loves his vocation. But as NHS staff strike for better pay and conditions this week, he admits that he often hates his job.
“It never lets up. You’re burned out constantly. You hate having to come into work in the mornings,” said Toner at Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), where the pressures that have led to NHS strike action being called in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from Monday are among the most acute in the UK.
In Northern Ireland, the national health service is critically ill. The region spends nearly half of its total budget on healthcare but its waiting lists are by far the longest in the UK.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Jude Webber
