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A nurses' union is set to announce the result of a vote on a government pay offer on Friday, as around 47,000 young doctors stage a fourth day of strike action in England. Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison, which represents nurses and other healthcare workers, voted on a proposed settlement that includes a 5 percent pay increase this year and a cash payment for last year. . Voting ends Friday and the NCR is expected to announce the final result later.
An RCN spokesperson said Thursday night: “The vote is still open and we have no results.
"All members are invited to vote before 9 am on Friday and the final result will be announced during the day."
Voting for Unison ends later on Friday with the result expected in the coming days.
The leaders of both unions have recommended acceptance of the offer.
The polls will end when young doctors in England stage the last day of a four-day strike in an increasingly bitter dispute over their pay.
It comes as co-chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA) Junior Physicians' Committee, Dr Robert Laurenson, insisted he is "always working" while on holiday during the NHS strikes.
But he said he was "sorry" if his fellow strikers felt his absence to attend a wedding undermined their cause.
Dr. Laurenson made headlines by taking a holiday to attend the wedding amid strikes by young doctors against demands for a full pay reinstatement that the government said would amount to a 35% pay increase.
I am determined and committed to the doctors and to winning. The fact that you are physically in a different place shouldn't change anything.
The 28-year-old defended his absence from the pickets after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday he was "surprised to read" that Laurenson was on holiday.
"I can see that you feel undermined and I am very sorry that my actions have contributed to this," Dr. Laurenson wrote in an online forum.
He said he was invited to the wedding in the fall of 2022, adding: "I always respond on my phone to the needs of my role at BMA, including being in the hospital, WhatsApp groups attack across the country to answer questions."
“I am determined and committed to the doctors and to winning.
“The fact that he is physically in a different place shouldn't change anything.
“I have an amazing co-chairman. We have a negotiating team that doesn't need me and has strict parameters.
"I'm still in contact, I'm still going to meetings and I'm still working."
Home Secretary Chris Philp suggested on Thursday that junior doctors call off all strikes so the government considers starting talks facilitated by the Acas Conciliation Service in a bid to end the pay dispute.
Acas said he was "well prepared and ready to help" and the BMA urges ministers to come to the table to try to break the deadlock.
The Department of Health and Social Care has said it remains open to a role for Acas, but repeated talks cannot take place until the young medics drop their demand for a 35-year pay increase and end the strike.
On Wednesday, Sunak said he wanted to find a "reasonable compromise" with the young doctors.
BMA Chairman of the Board, Professor Philip Banfield, said: "Faced with the Health Secretary's continued refusal to agree to continue talks and put forward a credible offer that could end the dispute, we believe that working with L'Acas offers the most realistic chances of successful negotiations.
"The BMA has no preconditions for talks and has always sought to negotiate with the government."
Hospital bosses have raised concerns about the safety of patients as they fight to secure coverage for night shift doctors during the strikes.
The Health Service's chief physician, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, warned that the situation in the NHS "will become more difficult every day this strike progresses."
During the strikes, staff still working prioritized emergency and urgent care over certain routine appointments and procedures to ensure safe care for those in mortal danger.
This means that hundreds of thousands of appointments and operations have been postponed.
The BMA says junior doctors in England have seen a 26% pay cut in real terms since 2008/09 because the increases have been below inflation.
PA wire
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