The first dates nurses in Norfolk and Waveney will be staging walkouts over their pay and working conditions have now been confirmed.

Earlier this month, the Royal College of Nursing confirmed that its members had voted in favour of industrial action.

It comes amid a dispute over pay after government officials declined a formal offer of negotiations rather than strike action.

The RCN has confirmed that walkouts will be taking place in the run-up to Christmas, on Thursday, December 15 and Tuesday, December 20 respectively.

It had previously been confirmed that nurses at some, but not all, of the region's NHS trusts would be taking to the picket lines as part of the action.

Nurses at the following organisations will be taking part:

  • NHS Norfolk and Waveney
  • Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
  • Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
  • Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust

However, while the first dates have been confirmed, full details of which workers will be taking part and which areas of care will be affected are still yet to be detailed.

Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN told BBC Radio 4: "What we will continue to provide is life-preserving services. And those essentially fall into emergency-type care.

"But we will have very, very detailed and worked-through plans that every single nurse that is taking strike action will be expected to adhere to."

A spokesman for the health and care sector in Norfolk and Waveney said: "While pay is a matter for government and the trade unions, we value our staff and want to see a resolution as soon as possible to ensure we can continue to focus on delivering patient care to all those who need it.

“Our NHS organisations have tried and tested plans in place to manage any disruption, including industrial action, and will do everything we can to go ahead with planned procedures, especially for patients in greatest clinical need.

“We are working closely with union colleagues and will be finalising plans for our services once a date or dates for industrial action are confirmed.

"We will be contacting patients direct if appointments are affected by industrial action."