Brits brace for strike chaos as nurses threaten walkouts again next month in action ‘twice as big as before’

BRITS are bracing for another round of strike chaos as nurses threaten to walkout again in February.

The Royal College of Nursing has said it will announce bigger walkouts if progress is not made during talks.

Future strikes will be twice as big as January's walkouts, with all eligible members in England asked to join for the first time.

RCN union members are giving the Government until the end of January to make progress during negotiations.

Nursing staff from more than 70 NHS trusts in England are set to hold walkouts on Wednesday and Thursday.

It comes as ministers push for new laws requiring minimum levels of service on strike days.

It is expected to take around six months to pass this through Parliament.

The RCN predicted the next strike is likely to be on February 6, to honour the 10th anniversary of the Robert Francis inquiry.

This was carried out to investigate the Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust and the impact of nurse shortages on patient mortality.

It uncovered that hundreds of patients were being neglected at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2009.

There are horrifying accounts of some elderly people being left lying in their own urine, unable to eat, drink or take essential medication.

Mr Francis and the Patient Association's chief executive, Rachel Power, described current NHS pressures and excess death levels as "Mid Staffs playing out on a national level, if not worse" in a letter to the Health Secretary sent last week.

Nurses in Wales are also expected to strike in February following a month without industrial action.

The RCN is not planning to stage strikes in Northern Ireland, where there is no executive in place.

Scotland has also continued to keep action on pause as negotiations continue.