Is the NHS gearing up for a new winter of discontent?

More bad news for the government’s attempts to reduce waiting times in the NHS and end the incessant strikes that have troubled the service for some years.

- SEAN O'GRADY

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is holding a consultative ballot on the independent pay review board’s recommended pay rise of 3.6 per cent. It obviously comes during the five-day resident doctors’ strike, and there are also signs of unrest developing elsewhere in the NHS. Some difficult times lie ahead…

When are the nurses going on strike?

Not soon. The present RCN vote is “consultative” or “indicative”, and is aimed at strengthening their bargaining hand there’s no commitment to withdraw labour. Union sources suggest there will be an overwhelming rejection of the offer, which is already barely sufficient to keep up with inflation — but this may, to some extent, be a bargaining ploy as they enter into negotiations. Even so, the chances are they’d go on strike again after a “real” strike ballot, as they did so often in 2022 and 2023. It might happen towards the end of the year.

Is it too soon to use the phrase ‘winter of discontent’?