Midwives in England have voted to accept the Government’s pay offer to NHS staff, the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) have said.
In a statement, the RCM said that 57 per cent of members had voted to accept the deal on a 48 per cent turnout.
Unison, the largest NHS union, have also accepted the deal - though it has been narrowly rejected by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
Alice Sorby, Director of Employment Relations at the RCN, said the offer was “not perfect” but was a “step forward from the Government’s entrenched position on 2022/23 pay”.
“It was the power of collective unions standing together, with our members behind us, that brought the Government to the table and led to this improved offer.”
Unlike other health unions, the RCM had not previously voted to strike in England - with the turnout below the threshold for industrial action.
Separately, tens of thousands of nurses will walk out across England for 48 hours from 8pm on April 30 after rejecting the same pay offer. The Royal Society of Radiographers (RSR), which urged members not to vote for the deal, have also rejected the offer.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has launched a legal challenge in a bid to obstruct the second day of the strike in a significant escalation of the bitter dispute over pay.
Mr Barclay said that NHS employers had contacted him asking him to check the legality of the action because the strike mandate runs out on May 1.
A separate pay dispute by junior doctor members of the British Medical Association (BMA) is ongoing, with both sides remaining deadlocked.
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, both co-chairs of the BMA’s junior doctors committee, on Tuesday urged Mr Barclay to start talks through the conciliation service Acas.
They wrote in a letter: “We are willing to negotiate, and no further strike action has been called, however, we must avoid attempting to negotiate via letters.
“Therefore, we look forward to meeting with you to begin a positive process towards resolving our dispute.”
