Nine in 10 nurses reject 3.6% pay offer and warn of further strikes

Nine out of 10 nurses have rejected a 3.6% pay award for this year and warned they could strike unless their salaries are improved.

- Denis Campbell

In an indicative vote among members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 91% said the 3.6% rise was not enough. The union has told ministers to "use the summer to reach agreement on investment in the nursing workforce or face formal escalation to a dispute and an industrial action ballot".

Nurses' overwhelming rejection of their pay award is a new NHS industrial relations headache for ministers in London, Cardiff and Belfast, especially Wes Streeting, the health secretary, who is already trying to resolve strikes by resident doctors in England seeking a 29% pay rise. With other unions representing staff across Britain voicing increasing disquiet over pay, and resident doctors threatening to strike until January, it could result in the NHS in different parts of Britain being hit by an autumn or winter of disruption.