Nursing staff at a majority of NHS employers throughout the UK have voted to strike for the first time ever, in a dispute over pay.
The walkout will involve Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members in more than half of hospitals and community teams.
Here’s how much nurses get paid, why they have voted to strike, and what that could mean.
NHS pay is operated in a banding system that was introduced in 2004.
A newly qualified nurse starts in Band 5 and will earn £27,055 a year in England, or slightly more in London. Most nurses operate in Bands 5 and 6, while Band 7 and above are management positions.
The RCN has estimated that an average NHS nurse’s pay is around £34,000.
Here is the current banding scale:
The RCN has said nurses have endured a real-terms pay cut of 20 per cent since 2010.
There are also record nursing vacancies, with 25,000 nursing staff leaving the register in the past year.
The RCN is campaigning for a pay rise of 5 per cent above inflation.
RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen said: “Anger has become action – our members are saying enough is enough. The voice of nursing in the UK is strong and I will make sure it is heard. Our members will no longer tolerate a financial knife-edge at home and a raw deal at work.
“Ministers must look in the mirror and ask how long they will put nursing staff through this. While we plan our strike action, next week’s Budget is the UK Government’s opportunity to signal a new direction with serious investment. Across the country, politicians have the power to stop this now and at any point.
“This action will be as much for patients as it is for nurses. Standards are falling too low and we have strong public backing for our campaign to raise them. This winter, we are asking the public to show nursing staff you are with us.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay described the results of the ballot as “disappointing”.
Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden previously said that in the event of industrial action, the NHS would prioritise the most essential services – although he acknowledged that it would have an impact on other activity.
“We have well-oiled contingencies in place and the Department of Health is across how we would deal with a scenario like this should it arise,” he told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme.
“We will make sure we prioritise the most essential services – emergency services and so on. But of course there would be an impact as a result of a strike like that.
“I would continue to urge nurses and others to resist going out on strike even if they have voted to do so. We have already agreed quite considerable support for nurses.
“Of course, if you are in the situation where you have a large number of nurses going out on strike, of course that is going to have an impact for example on some elective surgery and other activities.”
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