The Labour Government faces a ‘summer of discontent’ as the boss of the Royal College of Nursing union will tell ministers nurses need a ‘a significant pay rise’
Nurses could strike this summer if they are not awarded a “significant” pay rise soon, the nursing union leader will warn today. Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), will tell the Government “not to sail close to wind” and risk industrial action by refusing nurses a rise.
In a speech to the union’s annual congress in Liverpool, she will warn ministers: “If you continue to insult this profession, leave it ailing and underpaid this summer then you know how this could escalate.” The government has capped public sector pay rises at 2.8 per cent but an independent body in charge of reviewing nurses’ pay is understood to have recommended a 3 per cent rise – leaving a funding gap which chancellor Rachel Reeves has said could only come from cuts to services.
Labour risks a “summer of discontent”, with teachers, resident doctors, other NHS workers, civil servants and university staff all warning of potential industrial action over pay. Nurses are being surveyed by the RCN on whether they approve of the Government’s proposed figure and what action – including strikes – they are willing to take, although no official ballot is yet planned.
The union said nurses’ pay had fallen by a quarter in real terms in the last 15 years. Speaking to 3,000 delegates at the union’s annual conference, Prof Ranger will criticise the Government’s “dither and delay”, highlighting how a decision on pay was due six weeks ago.
She will tell nurses: “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.”
She will also warn nurse staffing levels are already “dreadfully unsafe” and putting patients’ lives at risk, citing how a single nurse was left alone on a shift to care for 40 hospital patients. The NHS faces a crash in nurse numbers as an estimated 175,000 staff – one in five of all nurses in the UK NHS workforce – are expected to retire within the next ten years, RCN analysis shows.
Describing the situation as a “ticking time-bomb”, the union called for “stronger financial incentives” to encourage more young people into the profession. Prof Ranger will say Gen Z is being put off a career in nursing by “low pay” and high studying costs.
The union is also calling for the Government to raise nurse starting salaries by 17 per cent – to around £35,000 from the current £29,970 – and to write off student loans on graduation for nurses who pledge to work in the NHS. There are more than 34,000 nursing vacancies in the NHS across the UK and figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) have revealed applications to study nursing have fallen by 34 per cent since 2021.
In response to Prof Ranger’s comments on pay, a Government spokesperson said: “This government inherited a broken NHS with an overworked, undervalued and demoralised workforce. We hugely value the work of talented nurses and midwives, and through our Plan for Change, we are rebuilding the NHS for the benefit of patient and staff, and ensuring nursing remains an attractive career choice.
“One of the first acts of this government was to award nurses an above-inflation pay rise for the first time in years, because we recognise that their pay has been hit over previous years. We are carefully considering the recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body and will update as soon as possible.”