Nurses set to hold biggest-ever strike - BBC

The biggest ever onslaught by nurses looks acceptable to spell ahead.

The Royal College of Nursing is owed to unveil the results of its ballot, which ended past week, successful the adjacent fewer days.

The last results are being counted but RCN sources accidental a ample bulk of nurses person voted successful favour of enactment successful a quality implicit pay.

The RCN had recommended to its 300,000 members that they locomotion out. If strikes instrumentality place, they would impact non-urgent but not exigency care.

The ballot has progressive a bid of idiosyncratic workplace-based ballots crossed the UK and if nurses bash not backmost enactment astatine a section level it is imaginable immoderate hospitals and services volition not beryllium involved.

The authorities had appealed to nurses to "carefully consider" the interaction connected patients.

But Pat Cullen, RCN wide caput and main executive, said: "Huge numbers of unit - some experienced and newer recruits - are deciding they cannot spot a aboriginal successful a nursing assemblage that is not valued nor treated fairly.

She added: "Our onslaught enactment volition beryllium arsenic overmuch for patients arsenic it is for nurses. We person their enactment successful doing this."

Cabinet curate Oliver Dowden said the authorities had "well-oiled contingencies successful place" for dealing with immoderate onslaught enactment by nurses.

Speaking connected Sky News, Mr Dowden said indispensable services would beryllium prioritised, "but of people determination would beryllium an interaction arsenic a effect of a onslaught similar that".

"I would proceed to impulse nurses and others to defy to going retired connected onslaught adjacent if they person voted to bash so", helium added.

The RCN had called for a emergence of 5% supra the RPI ostentation complaint which presently stands astatine supra 12%, but nary UK federation has offered adjacent to that.

In England and Wales, NHS staff, including nurses, person been fixed an mean of 4.75% more, with other for the lowest paid.

In Scotland, 5% was initially offered to NHS staff, but that has been changed to a level complaint of conscionable implicit £2,200, which works retired astatine conscionable implicit 8% for a newly-qualified nurse. In Northern Ireland, nurses are yet to person a wage award.

During the ballot, the RCN had argued this year's below-inflation wage grant came aft years of squeezes connected nurse's salaries.

Research commissioned by the national has recovered mean wage fell by 6% betwixt 2011 and 2021 - erstwhile ostentation was taken into relationship - compared with a 4.6% driblet for the full economy.

Starting salaries for nurses successful England are presently conscionable supra £27,000, rising to astir £55,000 for the astir elder nurses.

The RCN said the mean wage for a full-time established caregiver was conscionable supra £32,000 past twelvemonth - akin to mean wage crossed the economy.

But the authorities has argued it has met the recommendations of the autarkic NHS Pay Review Body successful giving its award.

And it followed a 3% wage emergence past year, successful designation of enactment during the pandemic, contempt a public-sector wage freeze.

This is the archetypal clip the RCN has balloted each its members for onslaught enactment successful its 106-year history.

In 2019, RCN members went connected onslaught successful Northern Ireland implicit pay, portion nurses who are members of Unison successful England walked retired successful 2014 implicit pay.

A big of different large wellness unions, including Unison, the Royal College of Midwives, GMB and Unite, person each started to, oregon are readying to, ballot members.

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