Nurses could be set to strike this summer as the Royal College of Nursing accuses the government of ‘insulting’ the profession.
As the RCN’s annual congress begins today (12 May), chief executive Nicola Ranger will urge the government not to “sail close to the wind” when it comes to confirming pay rises.
Independent pay review bodies issued their recommendations to the government on public sector pay last month, but teachers and nurses have become increasingly impatient for confirmation of 2025-26 rates.
The government has capped public sector pay rises at 2.8%, but the NHS Pay Review body has proposed around 3%.
NHS pay
Resident doctors to ballot for strike action
Public sector staff could be in line for higher pay settlement
Nurses last launched industrial action between December 2022 and May 2023, later receiving a pay offer of 5% for 2023-24, alongside a one-off payment of up to £3,789.
In her speech to congress, Ranger will say: “If you continue to insult this profession, leave it ailing and underpaid this summer, then you know how this could escalate.”
Although the RCN is yet to hold an official ballot, it will poll members on action they would be prepared to take if they are unhappy with the proposed settlement.
She will say: “We need a significant pay rise for nursing and for every NHS employer to be given the full money to pay it — anything else is a cut to patient services.
“I’m not here to tell you we’re going on strike. You will decide how you feel and we will plan together the best way to get what nursing needs.”
The British Medical Association’s resident doctors committee is opening a ballot on industrial action in England later this month that closes on 7 July.
Nursing students filling gaps
The RCN has also written to the government to call for the practice of using nursing students to make up staff gaps while they are on placement to end.
The union says students are having to take on “significant responsibilities” when they should be observing, which is having a serious impact on their mental and physical health.
Ranger said: “Nursing is an amazing career, but the goodwill of our future nurses is being taken for granted. Students are routinely reporting that their learning is being compromised.
“Students on placement should be observing complex skills from registered professionals and exposed to a range of situations which prepare them for life on the job.
“It’s unacceptable that those same students not only have their education opportunities diminished but are also being used to prop up understaffed wards following years of underinvestment in the nursing profession.”
The RCN wants better financial support for nursing students, including a universal maintenance grant in England that would take into account cost-of-living pressures, and “forgiving” student debt for people who commit to working in the health or care system after they graduate.
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