Nurses threaten industrial action ballot after pay offer rejected
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the RCN, said nurses feel 'deeply undervalued'.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the Government 'hugely' values the work of nurses, but stressed the profession has had 'two above-inflation pay rises'.
The RCN represents hundreds of thousands of nurses across the NHS in England.
According to the union, 91% of members voted to reject the pay award on a 56% turnout, with more than 170,000 staff taking part.
It warned that the profession faces widespread vacancies, stunted career progression and years of pay erosion, and urged ministers to use the summer to agree an investment plan or face a formal escalation to a dispute and a ballot on industrial action.
Prof Ranger said: 'My profession feels deeply undervalued and that is why record numbers are telling the Government to wake up, sense the urgency here and do what's right by them and by patients.
'Record numbers have delivered this verdict on a broken system that holds back nursing pay and careers and hampers the NHS.
'As a safety-critical profession, keeping hold of experienced nursing staff is fundamentally a safety issue and key to the Government's own vision for the NHS.
'Long-overdue reforms to nursing career progression and the NHS pay structure aren't just about fairness and equity but are critical for patient safety.'
Nurses in Wales and Northern Ireland were consulted on the same pay award and voted to reject it, according to the RCN.
Prof Ranger added: 'We deliver the vast majority of care in every service and deserve to be valued for all our skill, knowledge and experience.
'To avoid formal escalation, the Government must be true to its word and negotiate on reforms of the outdated pay structure which traps nursing staff at the same band their entire career.'
A DHSC spokesperson said: 'After receiving two above-inflation pay rises from this Government, new full-time nurses will earn £30,000 in basic pay for the first time this year, so it's disappointing that RCN members are dissatisfied with this year's pay rise.
'We hugely value the work of nurses, and through our 10 Year Health Plan, we are rebuilding the NHS for the benefit of patients and staff, and ensuring nursing remains an attractive career choice.
'This Government is clear we can't move any further on headline pay but will work with the RCN to improve their major concerns, including pay structure reform, concerns on career progression and wider working conditions.'
Nurses staged unprecedented industrial action over pay in 2022 and 2023.
In June 2023, the threat of more strikes ended because a ballot on further walkouts failed to meet the legal threshold of 50%.
A poll published earlier this week found that Britons are split on the idea of nurses striking over pay.
The YouGov survey found that 19% of 4,300 British adults 'strongly support' nurses going on strike, while 28% 'somewhat' supported it.
Meanwhile 23% said they 'strongly oppose' strike action while one in five (20%) 'somewhat oppose' it.
The RCN warning over a potential ballot for industrial action follows a five-day walkout by resident doctors in England, with medics returning to work at 7am on Wednesday.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has since written to the British Medical Association (BMA) saying he is willing to meet the union's resident doctors committee to resume talks.
However, he warned that resident doctors have squandered the 'considerable goodwill' they had with Government after the strike.
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