NHS nurses across the UK have voted in favour of an unprecedented national strike.
For the first time in its 106-year history the Royal College of Nursing balloted its 300,000 NHS membership and vast swathes of the country have voted to strike, as the Mirror first revealed
General Secretary Pat Cullen had called it a “once in a generation chance to improve your pay and combat staff shortages” that put patients at risk.
It is understood the picture is varied across the country and nurses at some hospitals, but not all, will take action.
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.
The official result of the RCN poll was confirmed on Wednesday afternoon.
The rules around the ballot means that technically strikes take place on a trust by trust basis but the College is looking at ways they could be coordinated.
It has previously made clear critical and lifesaving care will not be affected.
The NHS is facing a winter of discontent with a number of health unions balloting for industrial action.
Others to either ballot or plan for strike action include GMB, Unite, the Royal College of Midwives and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
The RCN 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.
Nurses across the UK will strike 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.
They fall well short of the RPI rate of inflation currently at 12.6% and unions are demanding an above inflation rise.
It comes after YouGov polling showed 65% of Brits support nurses going on strike - up from 60% three months ago.
The winter strike will mean parts of the NHS running a Bank Holiday service with elective procedures cancelled.
The RCN ballot was carried out at a hospital level, meaning each trust has to clear a 50% turnout threshold. If that is not met, strike action will not take place at that hospital.
Strike action and service agreements will vary between neighbouring trusts.
Speaking previously RCN General Secretary Pat Cullen had said: “The public stands with nursing staff as they know that when nurses speak, they speak for patients.
“It is for them that our members are voting to strike.
“Nurses have already suffered a decade of real terms pay cuts, and many simply cannot afford to practise anymore.
“They are being forced to leave the profession and a chronic shortage of nurses is putting patients at risk.
“Nurses are saying enough is enough, for our profession and for our patients.”
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 showed.
