Members of the Royal College of Nursing, the union and professional body for nursing staff, have voted to reject the UK government’s NHS pay award for 2024/25 in England.
Two-thirds of nursing staff voted against the current year’s pay award on a record high turnout for the RCN, with 145,000 members casting a vote.
The RCN is the largest trade union in the NHS in England and the only NHS union whose members voted not to accept the award.
The pay award was announced by the Chancellor on Monday 29 July and the 5.5% increase is expected to be paid next month.
The pay of an experienced nurse fell by 25% in real terms under the Conservative governments of 2010 to 2024.
The high turnout in this consultation surpassed the level seen in two statutory ballots for industrial action held by the union in 2022 and 2023, the first of which permitted six months of strike action by nursing staff.
The number of nursing students starting university courses this month is 21% lower than three years ago, despite the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, and the NHS in England is officially 32,000 nurses short.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting MP, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Professor Nicola Ranger said:
“We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the determination of nursing staff to stand up for themselves, their patients and the NHS they believe in.
“Many will support the new government’s health and care agenda as set out in recent weeks and fully recognise the diagnosis of a failing NHS. Working closely with all other professionals, nursing staff are the lifeblood of the service. The government will find our continued support for the reforms key to their success.
“To raise standards and reform the NHS, you need safe numbers of nursing staff and they need to feel valued. Nursing staff were asked to consider if, after more than a decade of neglect, they thought the pay award was a fair start. This outcome shows their expectations of government are far higher.
“Our members do not yet feel valued and they are looking for urgent action, not rhetorical commitments. Their concerns relate to understaffed shifts, poor patient care and nursing careers trapped at the lowest pay grades – they need to see that the government’s reform agenda will transform their profession as a central part of improving care for the public.”
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