Kettering General Hospital nurses and ambulance staff vote to join strike over pay and patient safety

Kettering General Hospital nurses and the region’s ambulance staff will join in strike action after backing a national call for industrial action.

The Royal College of Nursing said the majority of England’s biggest hospitals would see staff stop work in a dispute over pay and patient safety — including KGH, Northamptonshire Health Foundation Trust and East Midlands Ambulance Service.

A few others, including Northampton General Hospital, "narrowly missed" the strict legal turnout thresholds required allowing staff to take action.

Teresa Budrey, East Midlands regional director of the RCN, said: “Paying nurses fairly or not is a political choice, and the results of our ballot show that thousands and thousands of our members across the country are saying enough is enough.

“No nurse wants to strike but they have been forced into this position by the Government’s reckless ignorance of plunging real-terms pay and unsustainable staffing pressures that leave nursing staff feeling exhausted, demoralised and undervalued.

“Our members have been pushed to the point where many now feel that strike action is the only way to get ministers to listen.

“This result paves the way for nursing staff in NHS organisations right across the country to take strike action, a seismic moment and something that has never happened in the 106-year history of the Royal College of Nursing.”

In England, the law states that workers whose role involves delivering “important public services”, 50 percent of those eligible must vote and 40 percent of those voting must support action for strikes to be lawful.

Ms Budrey added: “Unfortunately, the turnout threshold hasn’t been reached for strike action to take place in every NHS trust, including Northampton General Hospital. But our members there and in other organisations that won’t be part of the strike can be assured that nurses who do go on strike elsewhere will do so to fight for the same common issues – deflated pay, intolerable working pressures and staff shortages that compromise patient care.”

The union said industrial action is expected to begin before the end of this year but detailed plans and timelines will be announced shortly. A statement added: “The RCN will ensure that strike action is carried out legally and safely at all times.”

General secretary Pat Cullen added: “Our fight will continue for as long as it takes to win justice for the nursing profession and our patients. Our members will no longer tolerate a financial knife-edge at home and a raw deal at work."

“Standards are falling too low and we have strong public backing for our campaign to raise them”

More than 300,000 NHS nursing staff were balloted at individual organisations rather than nationally as part of the RCN's biggest strike vote in its history.

Research by the London School of Economics shows experienced nurses are 20 per cent worse off in real terms compared to a decade ago and the union is calling for a five per cent pay rise ABOVE the RPI inflation rate, which currently stands at above 12 per cent.