Nurses set to hold first UK-wide strike

The archetypal UK-wide onslaught by nurses looks acceptable to spell ahead.

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

The last results are being counted but RCN root 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 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."

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.

Senior unit caregiver Jodie Elliott has worked arsenic a caregiver for 10 years. She felt she had nary prime but to ballot for onslaught action.

She has opted retired of the NHS unit pension due to the fact that she could not spend to marque the monthly contributions.

"My household were horrified, but it was the prime of that oregon going into indebtedness each month. I conscionable could not spend it.

"My wage has not kept up with ostentation for 10 years and, fixed the outgo of surviving now, it has got truly bad."

Ms Elliott, who is simply a section RCN rep, says she cannot adjacent spend to regenerate apparel and shoes erstwhile they are worn out.

"My parent takes maine shopping. That is ridiculous for a grown pistillate successful her 30s. I don't cognize however I would header if I had children and different mouths to feed."

She said the compression connected finances was driving nurses distant from the profession. "Every displacement we are abbreviated of staff. Care is becoming unsafe."

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.