Up to 100,000 nurses will go on strike next month in a dispute over pay.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will stage their biggest-ever walkout on 15 and 20 December after voting in favour in a ballot.

Nurses and other nursing staff will take action at half of the locations in England where the legal mandate for strikes was secured in November, while there will be strike action at every NHS employer in Wales except one and throughout Northern Ireland.

The RCN said the number of NHS employers affected would increase in January unless negotiations were held.

The Scottish government has made a separate pay offer.

The union said it had repeatedly called on the UK government to accept its request for negotiations to resolve the dispute over pay and patient safety.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said: “Ministers have declined my offer of formal pay negotiations and instead chosen strike action.

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“It has left us with no choice but to announce where our members will be going on strike in December.

“Nursing is standing up for the profession and their patients. We’ve had enough of being taken for granted and being unable to provide the care patients deserve.

“Ministers still have the power and the means to stop this by opening negotiations that address our dispute.”

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0:45

‘Nurses driven to strike by the government’

Nurses 20% worse off in real terms

The RCN said despite this year’s pay award of £1,400, experienced nurses were 20% worse off in real terms due to successive below-inflation awards since 2010.

It is calling for a pay rise of 5% above RPI inflation, saying the economic argument for paying nursing staff fairly is clear when billions of pounds is being spent on agency staff to plug workforce gaps.

The RCN said in the last year 25,000 nursing staff around the UK left the Nursing and Midwifery Council register, with 47,000 unfilled registered nurse posts in England’s NHS alone.

Workers from several different industries are set to walk out over pay and conditions this winter, while unions representing ambulance crews, midwives and hospital cleaners are also balloting their members on strikes.

Read more:
Which industries are striking this winter and why

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Here is where the strikes on 15 and 20 December will take place:

England

East Midlands:
• Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Eastern:
• Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
• Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
• Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
• NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
• Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

London:
• Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
• Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
• NHS North Central London ICB
• Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

North West:
• Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
• Health Education England
• Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Found Trust
• Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust
• Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
• The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Found Trust
• The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust

Northern:
• Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

South East:
• Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust

South West:
• Devon Partnership NHS Trust
• Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
• Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB (BSW Together)
• NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
• NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)
• North Bristol NHS Trust
• Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
• Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

West Midlands:
• Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
• Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
• NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB)
• The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
• Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust

Yorkshire and the Humber:
• Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
• Yorkshire & Humber NHS England
• The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Wales

• Cardiff and Vale University Health Board
• Powys Teaching Local Health Board
• Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust Headquarters
• Hywel Dda University Health Board
• Swansea Bay University Health Board
• Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board
• Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board
• Velindre NHS Trust
• Public Health Wales
• Health Education and Improvement Wales Health Authority
• NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership
• Digital Health and Care Wales

Northern Ireland

• Northern Ireland Practice and Education Council
• Southern Health and Social Care Trust
• Western Health and Social Care Trust
• Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
• Business Services Organisation
• Regulation & Quality Improvement Authority
• Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service
• Public Health Agency
• Northern Health and Social Care Trust
• South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• Northern Ireland Ambulance Service