NHS unions vote to accept government pay deal – but nurses could still strike

Health leaders raised concerns about ‘worrying’ prospect of further walkouts by unions that did not agree to the offer

Unions representing more than one million NHS workers have voted to accept a 5 per cent pay rise from the government following months of strikes.

Healthcare staff covered by 14 unions will be given the raise for 2023-24, along with two one-off payments for last year, after the majority voted in favour of the deal at the NHS staff council today.

Unison and the GMB, which represent ambulance staff and other healthcare workers, were key organisations to sway the vote after their members voted last month to accept.

However, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite members rejected the offer, meaning members of both unions could decide to hold further strikes.

The RCN, which represents 280,000 nurses, midwives and nursing assistants, has already said it will go ahead with a new ballot for strike action to be held between June and December. Health leaders have raised concerns over the “worrying” prospect of further walkouts.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “While the NHS staff council outcome is very positive news overall, it is not the line in the sand that will allow the NHS and those relying on its care to confidently move on from the threat of future strikes.

Health secretary Steve Barclay called the agreement a “good day for NHS staff and patients” and said he will implement the deal for all staff, even those who have not accepted the offer.

The NHS may still face further strikes from junior doctors, who were not covered by this pay deal.

The RCN’s original mandate for strikes ran out on 1 May meaning it must ask members to vote again on whether to walk out. It said any strike action could take place “across the full NHS”, which would be an escalation on earlier action that only occurred in around half of trusts.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said acceptance of the pay deal was “not the prevailing view of nursing staff”. She told The Independent last week that the government faces years of strike action if it does not change the way it sets pay levels in the future.

The bank holiday weekend saw the most extensive strikes yet from nurses, with A&E, critical care and cancer care workers taking part for the first time.

Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, said: “Health staff shouldn’t have needed to take action in the first place, proper pay talks last autumn could have stopped health workers missing out on money they could ill afford to lose. The NHS and patients would also have been spared months of disruption.”

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts, said: “Trust leaders are breathing a sigh of relief at today’s decision. We hope that this brings an end to the most disruptive period of industrial action in NHS history.

“But the NHS isn’t out of the woods yet. Despite this result, nobody can deny the scale of longstanding and mounting pressures facing staff, frontline services and the quality of care that they can give. We mustn’t forget that the various unions were not unanimous in their vote today, reflecting the strength of feeling among NHS staff.”

Mr Barclay said: “I’m pleased the NHS Staff Council has voted to accept our pay offer, demonstrating that a majority of NHS staff agree this is a fair and reasonable deal.

“It is now my intention to implement this for all staff on the Agenda for Change contract and where some unions may choose to remain in dispute, we hope their members – many of whom voted to accept this offer – will recognise this as a fair outcome that carries the support of their colleagues and decide it is time to bring industrial action to an end.”

The deal comes as the government remains in dispute with junior doctors who staged a four-day strike last month. Doctors’ union the British Medical Association initially called for the government to address a 26 per cent real terms pay cut since 2008-9, which would mean the government would have to agree to a 35 per cent raise this year. However, it has since signalled that the 35 per cent would be a starting point should the government open negotiations with a “credible” counteroffer.