Key Summary
- The results of the Royal College of Nursing’s online survey of 345,000 members in the three countries is due later this week
- Nurses are expected to reject the government’s 3.6 percent pay award for this year
- The union will demand ministers to negotiate to avoid a formal ballot for strike action
Amid the ongoing five-day strike action by resident doctors, nurses are expected to reject the government’s 3.6 percent pay award for this year.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) had previously called the hike “grotesque” and felt it would be “swallowed up by inflation”.
The results of the union’s online survey of 345,000 members in the three countries are due later this week, and media reports claim it will reject the government's pay award.
For the NHS, it will be an additional challenge as different parts of the UK could face renewed disruption.
NHS chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has warned that “continued disruption over the coming months could see a snowball effect for patients and for staff”.
A RCN spokesperson said the results will be announced later this week. The union claims that nurses have seen the value of their pay eroded by a quarter since 2010/11, as pay awards have not kept up with inflation.
Health secretary Wes Streeting announced in May that he was giving nurses a 3.6 percent pay increase for 2025-26.
The governments in Cardiff and Belfast have also awarded the same sum.
After the online survey results are out, the union will demand that ministers negotiate over the summer to avoid a formal ballot for strike action in the autumn.
The government claims that the nurses had previously received two above-inflation pay rises and urged the RCN members to accept the pay award.
Meanwhile, on Friday (25), the GMB union representing health workers, including ambulance crews, rejected the government's pay deal in an initial consultative vote.
The GMB said its members voted by 67 percent against the 3.6 percent pay award offered for 2025/26 in England.
The union has sought a meeting with Streeting to discuss pay and other issues.
