The Royal College of Nursing has said that nursing staff at around half of NHS organisations have voted in favour of strike action over pay and safety concerns.
The union has confirmed its members will begin industrial action before Christmas this year, with action potentially running until May 2023.
Results confirmed the threshold for strike action had been met at 130 organisations – including trusts, integrated care systems and commissioning support units – across England. Action will now take place in the trusts where the ballot has met the “relevant legal requirements,” the RCN has said, becoming the first union to announce the results of its ballot while others are expected to follow suit shortly.
It the first time the RCN has held a statutory ballot of its members on industrial actions across all four countries in the United Kingdom. It says it represents around 465,000 registered nurses.
Full story in the HSJ, 9 November 2022