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Furious nurses vote whether to strike after doctors get bigger pay rise
Government announces 'above inflation' pay awards of 4% for doctors and 3.6% for nurses and most other NHS staff who are now balloting whether to accept the deal
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Nurses are furious after being awarded a pay deal less than doctors as NHS workers are balloted over strike action.
The Government has announced a pay rise of 4% for doctors and 3.6% for other NHS staff in England, insisting it is offering a real terms pay increase for the second year in a row.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the Labour government “was never going to be able to fully reverse a decade and a half of neglect in under a year”. The Royal College of Nursing called it “a grotesque decision to again favour doctor colleagues for higher increases than nursing and the rest of the NHS”.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the measure of inflation used by the Government and is currently at 3.5%. Unions prefer to reference the Retail Price Index (RPI) is a broader measure that includes owner-occupied housing costs like mortgage interest payments and is currently 4.5%.
Professor Nicola Ranger, General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "This pay award is entirely swallowed up by inflation and does nothing to change the status quo - where nursing is not valued, too few enter it and too many quit. It is a grotesque decision to again favour doctor colleagues for higher increases than nursing and the rest of the NHS. Starting salaries for nursing staff remain too low.
Article continues below"Nursing staff have suffered 15 years of pay erosion and this award is symptomatic of a broken system which erodes our pay each year and keeps nursing staff weighted to the bottom. Now, hundreds of thousands of our members in the NHS will be given a vote on this award. They will ultimately decide if it is enough and whether they feel valued."
The college led its members into the biggest strike in the RCN’s history in December 2022, when around 100,000 nurses walked out in a dispute over pay. However the leadership recommended members accept a 5% pay rise for 2023/24, plus a lump sum of at least £1,655, at a time of soaring double-digit inflation. Members voted to reject the deal by 54% to 46% but then a second RCN ballot to continue strikes failed to meet the legal turnout threshold of 50%.
In contrast the British Medical Association’s resident doctors - formerly known as junior doctors - remained out on strike right up until the 2024 General Election and eventually received a 22.3% pay rise over two years including 2023/24 and 2024/25.
Resident doctors had already started a ballot for strike action before Thursday’s pay announcement which will give them a 4% rise plus a consolidated payment of £750. The British Medical Association (BMA) called on Health Secretary Wes Streeting to enter direct negotiations to "avert strike action".
Professor Philip Banfield, BMA chairman of council, said: "The Health Secretary can avert strike action by negotiating with us and agreeing a route to full pay restoration. Doctors' pay is still around a quarter less than it was in real-terms 16 years ago and today's 'award' delays pay restoration even more, without a government plan or reassurance to correct this erosion of what a doctor is worth. No-one wants a return to scenes of doctors on picket lines - we'd rather be in hospitals, in GP practices or in the community seeing patients, improving the health of the public - but today's actions from the Government have sadly made this look far more likely."
Mr Streeting said that the Government would not be able to "fully reverse a decade-and-a-half of neglect in under a year". He said: "These are thoroughly deserved pay rises for all our hard-working nurses, doctors and other NHS staff," he said in a statement. We inherited a broken health service with extremely low morale after years of pay erosion and poor industrial relations.
"Which is why, despite the difficult financial situation the nation faces, we are backing our health workers with above-inflation pay rises for the second year in a row. This Government was never going to be able to fully reverse a decade-and-a-half of neglect in under a year, but this year's pay increases - and last year's - represent significant progress in making sure that NHS staff are properly recognised for the outstanding work they do."
The Government accepted Pay Review Bodies’ headline pay recommendations for NHS staff. This will be 4% for consultants, specialty doctors, specialists and GPs, with dentists also receiving a contract uplift of this rate.
Most NHS are on the main ‘Agenda for Change’ contract including nurses, health visitors, midwives, ambulance staff, porters and cleaners and will receive 3.6%. The Government says this will mean the starting salary of a nurse will have gone up by around £4,000 over three years from £27,055 in 2022/2023 to £31,050 this year.
Article continues belowThe Government accepted the pay awards which were the recommendations from pay review bodies which take submissions from unions, the NHS and government.
UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: “The absurd pay review body process has led to two different awards for employees. But the NHS is one team and should be treated that way. Nurses, porters, paramedics, healthcare assistants, cleaners and other workers on Agenda for Change contracts will feel less valued than their doctor colleagues. That will generate more discontent from an already demoralised workforce. So long as coffee shops, supermarkets and parcel delivery firms pay more than the NHS, staff will go on leaving.
The GMB union is balloting tens of thousands of NHS and ambulance workers between now and July 17. GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: "GMB has been notified of the 2025/26 pay award for NHS workers. We're pleased dedicated NHS staff will get their pay rise closer to their anniversary date than they have in previous years. The decision on whether this pay award is acceptable is for GMB members to decide."
 — A look at some of the top men at the French Open, which starts at Roland-Garros on Sunday, with money-line odds via BetMGM Sportsbook:
Jannik Sinner
Seeding: 1
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Italy
Age: 23
2025 Record: 12-1
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 19
Grand Slam Titles: 3 — Australian Open (2: 2024, 2025), U.S. Open (1: 2024)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-Lost in Semifinals, 2023-2nd Round, 2022-4th, 2021-4th, 2020-QF
Aces: Returned at the Italian Open from a three-month doping ban he agreed to after the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed his exoneration in the case. ... Reached the Rome final but 26-match winning streak dating to last season ended with loss to Carlos Alcaraz. ... Won his second consecutive Australian Open in January. ... Lost to Alcaraz in five sets in last year's semifinals in Paris.
He Said It: “I’m 23 years old, and I am not perfect. I know that I have things still to improve. I have certain areas where I can get better. That’s why we work.”
Read All About It: Jannik Sinner's playing style draws comparisons to Novak Djokovic
Odds Are: +190
Carlos Alcaraz
Seeding: 2
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Spain
Age: 22
2025 Record: 30-5
2025 Titles: 3
Career Titles: 19
Grand Slam Titles: 4 — French Open (1: 2024), Wimbledon (2: 2023, 2024), U.S. Open (1: 2022)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-Won Championship, 2023-SF, 2022-QF, 2021-3rd, 2020-Did Not Play
Aces: His title at Roland-Garros a year ago made him, at 21, the youngest man in tennis history to win at least one major championship on three surfaces. ... 4-0 in Grand Slam finals. ... Got an Olympic silver medal after losing the final to Novak Djokovic in Paris. ... Missed the Madrid Open with problems in both legs but then won the Italian Open, beating Sinner for the title. ... Tweaked his service motion in the offseason to try to get more precision and a consistent rhythm.
He Said It: When you feel like you can’t miss, you can do whatever you should do, everything is going to be in — that’s the most satisfaction … that I feel on court. You hit great shots, running forehand, drop shots, volley, serve and volley. Everything that you want to do, you feel like it’s going to be right.
Read All About It: Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have a real rivalry atop men's tennis
Odds Are: +105
Alexander Zverev
Seeding: 3
Career-Best Ranking: 2
Country: Germany
Age: 28
2025 Record: 24-9 (Entering the German Open)
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 24
Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2024), Australian Open (2025), U.S. Open (2020)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-Runner-Up, 2023-SF, 2022-SF, 2021-SF, 2020-4th
Aces: Now 0-3 in major finals, losing to Dominic Thiem at the U.S. Open — after leading 2-0 in sets — to Alcaraz at the French Open — after leading 2-1 in sets — and to Sinner at the Australian Open. ... Had a chance to move up to No. 1 while Sinner was serving his suspension, but Zverev kept losing early in tournaments, going 6-6 in one stretch.
He Said It: “I don’t want to end my career as the best player of all time to never win a Grand Slam, that’s for sure. I’ll keep doing everything I can to lift one of those trophies.”
Read All About It: Zverev falls to 0-3 in Slam finals with loss to Sinner in Melbourne
Odds Are: +1600
Jack Draper
Seeding: 5
Career-Best Ranking: 5
Country: Britain
Age: 23
2025 Record: 22-6
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 3
Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Semifinals, U.S. Open (2024)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-1st, 2023-1st, 2022-DNP, 2021-DNP, 2020-DNP
Aces: Enjoying a real breakthrough season, including a Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and a run to a Masters 1000 final on red clay at Madrid, along with a rise into the top 10. ... Only the second left-hander — Rafael Nadal is the other, of course — to reach the top five since 2000. ... Fitness issues from early in his career seem to be behind him. ... Never won a French Open match.
He Said It: “I feel like I’ve been sort of building towards this. And so I feel like I've been improving a long time.”
Read All About It: Jack Draper beats Holger Rune in the Indian Wells final
Odds Are: +3300
Novak Djokovic
Seeding: 6
Career-Best Ranking: 1
Country: Serbia
Age: 38
2025 Record: 12-7 (entering Geneva Open)
2025 Titles: Zero
Career Titles: 99
Grand Slam Titles: 24 — French Open (3: 2016, 2021, 2023), Australian Open (10: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023), Wimbledon (7: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), U.S. Open (4: 2011, 2015, 2018, 2023)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-QF, 2023-Q, 2022-QF, 2021-W, 2020-RU
Aces: Recently split from coach Andy Murray. ... After stopping at the Australian Open with a hamstring injury, resumes his bid to become the first player with 25 Grand Slam singles trophies. ... 2024 was his first season without at least one Slam trophy since 2017. ... Won an Olympic gold medal for Serbia last year in Paris. ... Pulled out of the French Open midway through the event after tearing his right knee's meniscus. ... Ended a three-match losing streak this week.
He Said It: “It’s not like I’m worrying approaching every Grand Slam now whether I’m going to get injured or not, but statistics are against me, in a way, in the last couple of years.”
Read All About It: Djokovic strives to get another major championship after his latest injury
Odds Are: +1200
Casper Ruud
Seeding: 7
Career-Best Ranking: 2
Country: Norway
Age: 26
2025 Record: 24-7 (entering Geneva Open)
2025 Titles: 1
Career Titles: 13
Grand Slam Titles: Zero — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2: 2022, 2023), U.S. Open (1: 2022)
Last 5 French Opens: 2024-SF, 2023-RU, 2022-RU, 2021-3rd, 2020-3rd
Aces: Earned his first Masters 1000 title on Madrid’s clay for his biggest trophy. He had been 0-6 in title matches at Grand Slam tournaments, Masters and the ATP Finals. ... Made it to at least the semifinals in Paris each of the past three years, including runner-up finishes against Nadal and Djokovic.
He Said It: “In many ways, my career has gone better than maybe I thought was possible sometimes.”
Read All About It: Casper Ruud had Slam chances against Carlos Alcaraz in the 2022 U.S. Open final
Odds Are: +2800
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich %23genevaopen)
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