Nurses to start voting next month on whether to strike over pay

The Royal College of Nursing is describing the potential nurses strike over pay as a “defining moment” in the healthcare sector.

The RCN Union which represents around 465,000 registered nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants in the UK, said it will be recommending its members to support industrial action in a ballot that opens on Thursday September 15 for four weeks.

If its members support strike action, it will be the first ever strike by RCN members in England or Wales.

The postal ballot will ask RCN members working for the NHS in England and Wales on Agenda for Change contracts if they will take strike action which involves a complete withdrawal of labour.

The RCN also announced it has increased its industrial action strike fund to £50 million, up from £35 million, to provide financial support towards lost earnings during strikes.

The college has called for a pay rise for nursing staff of 5% above RPI inflation, which is currently 11.8%.

Last month the government announced a pay award the RCN said leaves an experienced nurse more than £1,000 worse off in real terms, describing it as “a national disgrace”.

A formal pay announcement is still awaited in Northern Ireland, while in Scotland the college has urged its members to reject a 5% pay offer from the Scottish government.

Pat Cullen, RCN general secretary, said: “Nursing staff will stop at nothing to protect their patients.

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“Staff shortages are putting patient safety at risk and the government’s failure to listen has left us with no choice but to advocate for strike action.

“A lifetime of service must never mean a lifetime of poverty. Ministers’ refusal to recognise the skill and responsibility of the job is pushing people out of the profession.

“The next prime minister must change course urgently.”

Carol Popplestone, who chairs the RCN Council, said in a message to members: “After years of underpayment and staff shortages, the fight for fair pay must strengthen.

“This year’s pay award does not help you with the rising cost of living. It will do nothing to help to recruit or retain more nursing staff where you work and will not keep patients safe.”

Alison Leary, a registered nurse and professor of healthcare and workforce modelling at London South Bank University, told PA: “In the UK, we have over 700,000 registered nurses, but only around half of them choose to work in the NHS. So that’s due to pay and conditions, lack of professional development, being undervalued in their work, and also workload.

“So basically, if you are being asked to look after too many patients and you can’t do a good job, then you get dissatisfied and you’d leave and that tends to be what nurses do.

“I can understand why they (nurses) would (strike). And I think often, people would question: what about patient safety if nurses strike? What does that do for patient safety?

“The fact is, the health service currently is unsafe; a lot of care is not being delivered. And it’s currently sort of spiralling down. It’s regrettable that they have to resort to industrial action, but I can completely see why they need to resort to industrial action. Without any significant change in policy, healthcare will become even more unsafe.

“It’s certainly the worst I’ve ever seen in 15 years of studying this area and this workforce. I think people are leaving at a faster rate; that’s never a good sign. People are staying for a shorter period of time in the profession, which is also not a good sign.”

In a statement to the i, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We hugely value the dedication and contribution of NHS nurses, and are working to boost recruitment, training and retention to ensure the NHS has a long-term sustainable nursing workforce.

“We are over halfway towards meeting our commitment to recruiting 50,000 more nurses, with nursing numbers over 29,000 higher in May 2022 than they were in September 2019.

“We accepted the recommendations from the independent NHS pay review bodies in full, giving over one million NHS workers, including nurses, a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.

“We want a fair deal for staff and we know that very high inflation-driven settlements would have a worse impact on pay packets in the long run than proportionate and balanced increases now.

“Industrial action is a matter for unions, and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts.”

ITV News has contacted the Department of Health & Social Care for comment.