NURSES will stage a 48-hour round-the-clock strike after narrowly rejecting the government’s pay offer today.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing opposed the union leaders’ recommendations triggering further NHS backlog chaos.
The decision came as health workers from Unison decided to BACK the deal aimed at resolving the long-running dispute.
Nurses will step up their strike this time around and abandon A&E departments, cancer wards and intensive care units.
Furious bosses have scrapped exemptions that kept critical services running in previous walkouts – meaning risks to patients will rocket.
Around 150,000 appointments and operations were cancelled in the first round, with thousands more now on the line in a blow to efforts to bust the NHS backlog.
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If the RCN extends its strike mandate again next month, nurses and junior doctors could strike together for the first time ever, crippling hospitals.
The offer on the table covered two pay years with a five per cent pay rise this year and an additional one-off amount for last year.
But fifty-four per cent of RCN members turned down the offer in a narrow vote with 46 per cent opting to back the deal.
More than six in ten of eligible members took part in the ballot which ran from the end of March and closed at 9am today.
The nurses’ strike will take place from 8pm on 30th April to 8pm on May 2nd.
The union will now conduct a consultation among members in England to extend the ‘scope and duration’ of the current mandate for walkouts.
Nursing union boss Pat Cullen has written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay telling him that what has been offered is “simply not enough”. She demanded talks between the pair are kick-started to reach agreement.
She said: “The government needs to increase what has already been offered and we will be highly critical of any move to reduce it.
“Since our talks in February, we have seen the pressures on the NHS continue to increase.
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“The crisis in our health and care services cannot be addressed without significant action that addresses urgent recruitment and retention issues and nursing pay to bring this dispute to a close urgently.
“Until there is a significantly improved offer, we are forced back to the picket line. Meetings alone are not sufficient to prevent strike action and I will require an improved offer as soon as possible.
“In February, you opened negotiations directly with me and I urge you to do the same now. After a historic vote to strike, our members expect a historic pay award.”
A government spokesperson said: “It is hugely disappointing that the Royal College of Nursing membership has rejected the pay deal recommended by their leadership.
"Following constructive discussions, all parties agreed this was a fair and generous offer which is demonstrated by Unison, representing the largest share of the NHS workforce, choosing to accept it.
“The fact that the Royal College of Nursing has announced an escalation in strike action with no derogations, based on a vote from the minority of the nursing workforce, will be hugely concerning for patients."
Members of Unison overwhelmingly backed the pay offer with 74 per cent accepting the deal. Turnout was 52 per cent of their 288,000 members in England.
Their head of health Sara Gorton said: “Clearly health workers would have wanted more, but this was the best that could be achieved through negotiation.
“Over the past few weeks, health workers have weighed up what’s on offer. They’ve opted for the certainty of getting the extra cash in their pockets soon.
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“It’s a pity it took several months of strike action before the Government would commit to talks. Unions told ministers last summer the £1,400 pay rise wasn’t enough to stop staff leaving the NHS, nor to prevent strikes, but they didn’t want to listen.
He has made calling off walkouts a precondition before resuming negotiations.
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