Hundreds of thousands of NHS nurses will vote whether to go on strike from Thursday as new research shows their real terms pay has shrunk twice as much as private sector pay.
As the economy stagnated during the last decade of Tory rule real earnings among all private sector employees fell by 3.2%.
But average weekly pay for nurses was reduced by 6% in real terms between 2011 and 2021 , independent analysis by consultancy London Economics shows.
For the first time in its 106-year history the Royal College of Nursing will ballot its 300,000 NHS members about whether to go on strike and is calling for a ‘yes’ vote.
General Secretary Pat Cullen “This is a once in a generation chance to improve your pay and combat the staff shortages that put patients at risk.
“Governments have repeatedly neglected the NHS and the value of nursing. We can change this if together we say ‘enough is enough’.”
The NHS is facing a winter of discontent with a number of health unions balloting for industrial action, including the British Medical Association which represents doctors.
The RCN is the world’s largest nursing trade union and professional body and has been historically resistant to industrial action.
The last widespread NHS strike action by nurses took place in 1988 led by smaller unions but the RCN opposed it.
This UK-wide strike would be in response to a £1,400 pay rise announced by the Government - which after inflation will be a significant real terms pay cut.
This worked out at around 4% on average while in Scotland nurses were given a 5% rise before inflation. Both have been rejected by unions.
District nurse Alison Nicoll, 61, from Dundee, has been nursing for 40 years and says patient safety “has never been more at risk”.
She is at the top of band 5 - which has an annual salary of £32,915 - but works part time on a 16-hour work week so earns £1170.24 a month. She had retired but returned to work in June.
“We’re now in a place where nurses are leaving the profession,” she told the Mirror.
“I’ve seen so many experienced colleagues walk away. They’re exhausted and they’re angry. We must do something to force governments to listen.
“Staff shortages threaten patient safety. They lead to less care, lower quality care and greater risk of clinical errors.”
The RCN ballot closes on November 2.
The college represents almost half a million nurses, midwives, health care assistants HCAs, assistant practitioners APs and nursing students.
An NHS nurse’s starting salary is £27,055 – for support staff also represented by the RCN, such as healthcare assistants, it is £20,270.
The RCN estimated last year that the average nurse’s salary was £35,340, including extra shifts and on-call payments. It says it decided to ballot after the Government announced the a £1,400 pay rise - leaving them £1,000 a year worse off in real terms, according to the union.
It works out at around a 4% rise for most NHS staff while the RPI measure of inflation is currently 12.3%.
The RCN is demanding a “restorative” pay rise of 5% above inflation to avoid a flood of nurses leaving the profession.
The union has a £50 million hardship fund for striking staff whose pay is docked and it says members of the public have already offered donations.
It is inviting the public to co-sign a letter to the Prime Minister from General Secretary Pat Cullen, which states: “On behalf of the nursing profession I implore you to see sense. Protect nursing to protect the public.”
The ballot comes after Nuffield Trust analysis showed more than 40,000 nurses quit in England last year.
Pat Cullen added: “Record numbers are feeling no alternative but to quit and patients pay a heavy price. We are doing this for them too.
“I have spoken with hundreds of you directly in recent weeks and it’s clear we need urgent change.
“Nursing is the best job in the world. Protect it with your vote.”
New polling carried out by YouGov shows two-thirds of the British public (65%) backed nurses taking strike action. In the same poll 75% of respondents said there are too few nurses to provide safe care in the NHS.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We value the hard work of NHS nurses and are working hard to support them including by giving over 1 million NHS workers, including nurses, a pay rise of at least £1,400 this year.
“NHS staff also received a 3% pay rise last year, increasing nurses’ pay by £1,000 on average despite a public sector pay freeze.
“Industrial action is a matter for unions, and we urge them to carefully consider the potential impacts on patients.”
