The Latest Breaking News from RCN

The strike will be the first of its kind, with the union's General Secretary calling it a “once in a generation chance to improve your pay and combat staff shortages” that put NHS patients at risk

Union says the “first period of industrial action can be expected before the end of the year”

Emergency services will be maintained on strike day but planned operations will be postponed

The world’s largest nursing trade union and professional body will now pressure MPs to support their local striking nurses as polling shows support for the action is growing

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan claims big pay rise would ‘fuel inflation’ as union prepares to announce strike ballot results

More than 300,000 members were urged by the Royal College of Nursing to vote for strike action.

Will any nurses be working during the strike? And what will happen to patients? The big questions answered...

There is nothing ‘militant’ about demanding less than what you were paid in 2010. The government needs to zip up and stump up, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

‘It’s the waiting list that is going to be hit,’ says one NHS official about upcoming industrial action