Nurses leaders have slammed the Government for refusing to take steps to avert strike action during a meeting last night.
The Royal College of Nursing said the Tories would not discuss pay.
The union said on Sunday it would postpone Thursday’s strike if genuine talks on wages were started.
RCN chief Pat Cullen said after last night’s discussion with Health Secretary Steve Barclay: “I needed to come out of this meeting with something serious to show nurses why they should not strike this week.
“Regrettably, they are not getting an extra penny. Ministers had too little to say, and I had to speak at length about the unprecedented strength of feeling in the profession. I expressed my deep disappointment at the belligerence – they have closed their books and walked away.”
A Department of Health source said: “[Mr Barclay] again listened to the RCN’s position on pay and reiterated the Government has agreed to the recommendations of the independent pay review body and prioritised the National Health Service with £6.6billion of investment over the next two years.
“He said any further pay increase would mean taking money away from frontline services... Mr Barclay said he would continue to engage with the RCN around non-pay-related issues and challenges the union has with the pay review process.”
There are 7.2 million people on the NHS England waiting list for planned treatment amid an exodus of senior staff. The total was steadily increasing before Covid, from 2.5 million in April 2012 to 4.6 million in February 2020.
After a decade of real terms wage cuts the RCN is calling for an NHS pay award of 5% above inflation, which on its preferred measure stands at 14.2%.
The Government has given a pay increase of around 4% on average. Former Tory minister Lord Baker said there should be a compromise settlement of 6% or 7%. He added: “Protracted strikes in the public sector are going to hurt a lot of people.”
Nurses plan to walk out in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has branded his opposite number’s approach to the NHS pay dispute as a “complete joke”.
Mr Streeting accused the Government of a “betrayal of patients” over its “appalling” stance on strikes.
He said: “The nurses are offering to negotiate. For the Government to refuse to... talk for even a minute of negotiations, knowing that doing so will avert strike action is deeply irresponsible.
“If patients suffer disruption this week, as they will if strikes go ahead, they’ll know it’s Conservative ministers to blame not the nurses.”
Strikes by ambulance staff and some other NHS workers in Scotland were called off last night after members of two unions – Unite and Unison – voted to accept the Scottish Government’s most recent pay offer.
Staff are set for wage rises of up to £2,751. For the lowest paid it would be an 11.3% uplift, with an average hike of 7.5%.
Thousands of ambulance workers have voted for strike action in England on Wednesday next week. Sharon Graham, the boss at Unite, whose members are among those planning to walk out, said: “The deal in Scotland shows Unite’s members are prepared to negotiate on pay.
“The only thing standing in the way of this... is the intransigence of the Westminster government to join pay negotiations and offer a better deal.
“If the position remains the same, ministers must explain why NHS workers in England don’t deserve the same pay increase as colleagues in Scotland."
