GOSH statements on RCN industrial action

Mat Shaw, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, said:

"Although the safety critical exemptions granted to us by the RCN will help improve the staffing situation at the hospital, we will remain in a business continuity incident until we are confident we can safely staff our services during the RCN strike.”

Mat Shaw, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, said:

“We are incredibly grateful to our staff and the RCN for granting safety exemptions to help us safely care for our patients during the strike.

“We fully support the right of our staff to strike, and know this decision will not have been taken lightly.

“There has been a significant impact on all our services across the hospital. We are doing our best to minimise disruption for all of our patients and apologise to those families who have been affected.”

Mat Shaw, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, said:

“We respect the right of our staff to take part in lawful industrial action, but after exhausting all options, at the moment we have serious concerns over how we will safely staff our hospital during the strike.

“There is nothing more important than the safety of our patients and so we have no choice but to declare a business continuity incident.

“These children have no voice in the debate and we must protect them. We urgently need safety exemptions for our intensive care units and other areas of the hospital.”