Responding to confirmation from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on the NHS services exempt from strike action, the interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery said:

"Trust leaders running NHS organisations affected by RCN strike action on Thursday 15^th and Tuesday 20^th December will redouble efforts to reach local agreements with the union about where strikes will hit, given the apparent exclusion of A&E and maternity services from the national list of services exempt from industrial action.

"The decision to nationally exempt 'life preserving care' such as critical care units, intensive care, dialysis and chemotherapy services, neonatal and paediatric ICU is of course welcome.

"But with less than two weeks to go until the first strike, trust leaders at NHS organisations now face the daunting prospect of entering into a period of intense negotiations with their local strike committee to seek urgent, additional exemptions for other critical patient services.

"What was already expected to be a particularly challenging situation for the NHS has now become even more so.

"Patient safety is uppermost in trust leaders minds and they will do everything in their power to protect patient care and support all their staff.  

"Today's developments once again underline the urgency of the government and unions getting around the table and doing everything they can to avert these strikes."