NHS nurses could go on strike in pursuit of 25% pay rise, union boss warns

Nurses merit a 25% wage emergence and whitethorn spell connected onslaught again unless ministers dramatically amended their “completely unacceptable” 2.8% connection to NHS staff, the profession’s person has said.

Prof Nicola Ranger, the wide caput of the Royal College of Nursing, said nurses wanted afloat restoration of mislaid net and could “bare our teeth” successful pursuit of that goal.

Her remarks, successful an interrogation with the Guardian, heighten the hazard of a caller question of strikes successful the months up by cardinal unit unhappy with what they are being offered disrupting NHS care. The RCN’s yearly legislature opens connected Monday successful Liverpool.

Resident doctors successful England – formerly known arsenic inferior doctors – person already launched a ballot for a imaginable caller circular of strikes, aft the 11 rounds they held successful 2023 and 2024 erstwhile they were seeking a 35% rise. Their enactment won them a 22% wage uplift implicit the 2 years 2023-24 and 24-25.

The British Medical Association has warned Wes Streeting, the wellness secretary, that they volition signifier further walkouts for up to six months unless they get a 10% summation for 2025-26, which helium says is unaffordable. They privation the worth of their wage restored to 2008 levels by 2027 and person said their “successful enactment implicit erstwhile years” shows that strikes pb to amended wage deals.

Ranger cited the inferior doctors’ strikes and outlined a akin request to them – restoration of the worth of nurses’ incomes, which person fallen successful existent presumption since 2010 owed to ostentation and debased wage rises – successful explaining wherefore the 518,000 nurses moving successful the NHS crossed the UK merit a 25% wage boost.

“Nursing wage since 2010 successful existent presumption has reduced by 25%. The inferior doctors were precise wide astir wage restoration. We inactive judge successful that arsenic well. It’s wherever we start. It’s our starting point,” she said, for this year’s negotiations implicit what percent emergence nurses should get this year.

“We privation to commencement bringing nursing [pay] backmost to wherever it needs to be. The inferior doctors, they went connected onslaught 11 times. They were precise palmy successful what they did.

“If each caregiver successful each mounting was to enactment down their tools adjacent for 1 hr successful each setting, the interaction would beryllium catastrophic. So if we’re indispensable to patients successful each setting, commencement to worth us, commencement to recognise our worthy and commencement to wage america accordingly. Nursing is undervalued, misunderstood and underpaid.”

Asked what the RCN would bash if the authorities does not grant what it regards arsenic a just amount, Ranger replied: “We volition travel to a constituent wherever we volition commencement to person to bare our teeth and commencement looking astatine what we do.” But, she added: “They don’t privation onslaught action; nor bash we.”

NHS leaders said Ranger’s informing changeable was unhelpful to solving the contented of NHS pay, particularly fixed the fiscal problems of the work successful England.

Danny Mortimer, the main enforcement of NHS Employers, who leads the NHS’s broadside of wage negotiations, said: “It is imperative that the authorities takes a considered presumption connected what to bash next. It is besides imperative that each commercialized unions, including the RCN, question retired dialog alternatively than confrontation arsenic a mode to resoluteness their semipermanent aspirations for their members.

“NHS leaders privation nurses and each their unit to person sustainable semipermanent concern successful their pay, reflecting the important roles they present for nine and the nation. Such awards need, though, to beryllium affordable.”

He highlighted the circular of fund cuts that England’s 215 NHS trusts are having to marque to comply with a brutal “reset” ordered by Sir Jim Mackey, NHS England’s caller main executive.

Nurses successful England went connected onslaught connected 8 days betwixt December 2022 and May 2023. They aboriginal received a one-off outgo of £1,655-£3,789 for 2022-23 and a 5% wage emergence for 2023-24.

Given the large autumn successful numbers applying to beryllium nurses and precocious numbers quitting early, Ranger said the government’s plans to amended the NHS would neglect unless Streeting gives nurses a important wage uplift to assistance tackle the duplicate problems of recruitment and retention.

Ministers successful Scotland person offered NHS nurses, midwives and different unit determination an 8% rise implicit the adjacent 2 years – 4.25% this twelvemonth and 3.75% successful 2026-27.

The NHS wage reappraisal assemblage (PRB) covering the 1.38 cardinal NHS unit connected Agenda for Change presumption and conditions UK-wide has advised ministers to springiness them adjacent to 3%, somewhat higher than the 2.8% the authorities has proposed. Doctors’ and dentists’ wage is decided by a abstracted wage advisory body. Ministers are considering however to respond to the PRB’s recommendation.

In a further motion of hostility implicit NHS pay, the national Unison, which represents tens of thousands of staff, is consulting members successful England and Wales implicit their readiness to onslaught if the 2025-26 wage grant “fails to support up with rising surviving costs”.

A authorities spokesperson said: “This authorities inherited a breached NHS with an overworked, undervalued and demoralised workforce. We hugely worth the enactment of talented nurses and midwives, and done our program for alteration we are rebuilding the NHS for the payment of patients and staff, and ensuring nursing remains an charismatic vocation choice.

“One of the archetypal acts of this authorities was to grant nurses an above-inflation wage emergence for the archetypal clip successful years, due to the fact that we recognise that their wage has been deed implicit erstwhile years. We are cautiously considering the recommendations from the NHS wage reappraisal assemblage and volition update arsenic soon arsenic possible.”