Labour NHS crisis as third trade union threatens strikes in huge blow

Health Secretary Wes Streeting is facing yet more NHS strikes crisis, after the Royal College of Nursing said it intends to allow members if the government refuses to give them a high enough pay rise. The union's members were offered a 3.6% pay increase for 2025/26, which was overwhelmingly rejected by 91%.

The RCN is now warning it will ballot members on strike action if the Health Secretary refuses to cave into their demands by the end of the summer. RCN general secretary Nicola Ranger warned that nurses are feeling "deeply undervalued", despite receiving two inflation-busting pay rises in a row. Professor Ranger said: "My profession feels deeply undervalued and that is why record numbers are telling the Government to wake up, sense the urgency here and do what's right by them and by patients.

"Record numbers have delivered this verdict on a broken system that holds back nursing pay and careers and hampers the NHS.

"As a safety-critical profession, keeping hold of experienced nursing staff is fundamentally a safety issue and key to the Government's own vision for the NHS.

"Long-overdue reforms to nursing career progression and the NHS pay structure aren't just about fairness and equity but are critical for patient safety."

The RCN threat comes two days after Unite Union also warned the government that its NHS staff are on the brink of strikes over their 3.6% pay rise offer.

Unite, which represents the so-called 'Agenda for Change NHS staff', polled its members and found nearly all of them are furious with their pay rise offer,

General Secretary Sharon Graham warned Wes Streeting that he needs to urgently find more cash, or face yet more walkouts. The survey of staff also found 95% willing to strike in order to oppose NHS cuts.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "When it came into power this government was clear that the NHS was broken.

"But staff are still leaving in droves and morale is still at an all time low. The NHS can't be repaired while the government continues to erode pay and drastically cut NHS budgets.

Junior Doctors concluded their five day strike yesterday, with the BMA resuming pay talks with the Health Secretary.

Wes Streeting offered to resume talks early next week, though the BMA warned that the government has lost its goodwill following their strike.

In a letter to the hard-left union, Mr Streeting said it was "ironic" for them to be requesting a return to the negotiating table "because I never left".

The top Cabinet minister reiterated his 'deep disappointment' with the Union's decision to strike, which he branded "entirely unnecessary".

Junior doctors received a 22% pay rise last year, and a 5.4% pay rise this year - the highest of any public sector workers.

However the BMA is demanding an eye-watering 29% pay rise, in a move they claim would return doctors' pay to its 2008 level in real terms.

This morning the leader of the train drivers' union Aslef also piled in, saying striking doctors are "not asking for enough".

Mick Whelan said: "My people earn more than doctors. I'm not going to say my people should learn less - but I do believe that doctors should earn more."