The Observer revealed on Sunday that the biggest nursing strike in NHS history could take place before Christmas after “large parts of the country” voted in favor of national industrial action. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is due to announce the results of its vote in the coming days. If strikes take place, they will affect non-urgent – not urgent – care, but could cause disruption and challenge Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt. Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden said that in the event of strikes, the NHS would prioritize the most essential services – although he acknowledged there would be an impact on other activities, including elective surgery. “We have well-oiled contingencies and the Department of Health knows how we will deal with such a scenario if it arises,” he told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday. “We will make sure to prioritize the most essential services – emergency services and so on. But of course there would be an impact as a result of such a strike.” Dowden urged nurses and others to reconsider the strike, even if they supported industrial action on the ballot. “We’ve already agreed quite significant support for nurses,” he said. Union officials say that since the Conservatives took power in 2010, the pay of some experienced nurses has fallen by 20% in real terms. They are asking for a 5% raise plus inflation – a total of around 15%. However, the government said the average basic annual pay for nurses will rise from around £35,600 to around £37,000 from March 2022, an increase of just 4%. “Cutting nurses’ pay by 20% since 2010 is the opposite of providing ‘significant support’ to nurses and the Cabinet Minister should not be insulting our members by pretending to be,” said a spokesman for the RCN, which had recommended to the 300,000 striking members. “The minister appears in denial about both the anger of the nursing staff and the public support we have.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Final results are being counted, but RCN sources say a large majority of nurses voted in favor of action over the pay dispute. The vote was carried out as a series of individual workplace-based ballots and unless local action is supported, it is likely that these hospitals and services will not be affected by the strike. Health workers in several other unions, including ambulance staff, hospital porters and cleaners, have started or are due to vote on industrial action. A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We value the hard work of NHS staff, including nurses, and are working hard to support them – including giving over a million NHS workers a pay rise of at least 1,400 this year, as suggested by the independent NHS Pay Review Body, up from 3% last year when pay was frozen in the wider public sector. Industrial action is a matter for the unions and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impact on patients.”
