Britain | Striking difference

Britain’s NHS has never seen industrial action on this scale

A union vote to accept the government’s pay offer is not the end of the story

Alamy Live News. 2PWTE6E London, UK.  1 May 2023.  An NHS worker with a sign takes part in a pay protest march from St Thomas? Hospital to Trafalgar Square on the same day as nurses from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are midway through a 28 hour strike over pay and conditions.  Credit: Stephen Chung / Alamy Live News This is an Alamy Live News image and may not be part of your current Alamy deal . If you are unsure, please contact our sales team to check.
On the wardpathImage: Alamy

On May 2nd health-care trade unions in England finally signed off on a government pay deal. More than 1m workers in the National Health Service (NHS) will receive pay increases of 5% this year—with an additional one-off bonus added on for the previous year. But hopes for an end to the industrial action that has convulsed the health service in the past six months may be dashed. Two of the 14 unions to vote on the deal are still holding out for something better. The settlement does not include NHS doctors. And the strikes have already caused over half a million patient appointments to be rescheduled.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Striking difference”

From the May 6th 2023 edition

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