NHS nurses set to join doctors' miserable 5-day walk out after ‘rejecting latest pay deal'
The Royal College of Nursing is understood to have 'overwhelmingly' voted down the 3.6 per cent offer in an indicative ballot, warning it will be 'entirely swallowed up by inflation'.
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But while the majority backed action, turnout fell short of the 50 per cent legal threshold needed to trigger a walkout.
It means more disruption may still be on the cards if the union pushes for a full vote.
A union spokesman said: 'The results will be announced to our members later this week. As the largest part of the NHS workforce, nursing staff do not feel valued and the government must urgently begin to turn that around.'
It comes as thousands of resident doctors in England, previously known as junior doctors, kicked off a five-day strike on Friday after pay talks between the Government and the British Medical Association collapsed.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said disruption to the NHS was not possible to eliminate but insisted it was being kept to a minimum.
The RCN represents hundreds of thousands of frontline nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Scotland's nurses have already accepted a separate two-year deal worth 8 per cent, keeping them the best-paid in the UK.
Nurses were offered less than almost every other public sector group this year.
Doctors, teachers, armed forces and prison officers are all getting more.
RCN boss Prof Nicola Ranger has led calls for fairer pay and warned that ministers are ignoring a growing crisis in the profession.
She fumed last month: 'Nursing is an incredible career, but despite being the most valued profession by the public we continue to be weighted to the bottom of the NHS pay scale.'
Speaking at a global conference in Helsinki, she added: 'I'm with nurses from around the world asking why it is our ministers in the UK who have once again put nursing at the back of the queue when it comes to pay.'
More than 26,000 nurse roles are currently vacant, with student recruitment collapsing and resignations 'skyrocketing', the union says.
Nurses made history in winter 2022-23 by walking out for the first time ever - holding four separate two-day strikes.
But the RCN failed to secure a new strike mandate in 2023 after a re-ballot missed the 50 per cent turnout threshold.
Members have now rejected three government offers in a row: 5 per cent in 2023-24, 5.5 per cent last year, and now 3.6 per cent for 2025.
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