Nurses 'blackmailed' on strike plan

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Dr Peter Carter said he believed an "all-out strike" would not happen because nurses would not take action which harmed patient care.

But he said the mood was that nurses wanted "something done" to get their message across.

Speaking ahead of an emergency debate on Tuesday which is likely to see industrial action discussed, Dr Carter said successive Governments had been able to "trade off" the fact that nurses will not compromise patient care.

The RCN threatened the possibility of action before last month's below-inflation pay award was announced.

The independent pay review body recommended that nurses and other health workers received an annual increase of 2.5%. But the Government angered unions by staging the increase, giving nurses 1.5% from this month and an extra 1% from November.

This effectively amounts to 1.9% over the year, which the RCN has termed a pay cut in real terms.

Nurses will vote on an emergency motion on Tuesday, demanding that the pay review body's recommendations are implemented in full from this month.

The most likely industrial action nurses would take would be "work to rule", which would see nurses working their contracted hours and no more.

Dr Carter said any form of action would have to go to a ballot but the RCN's annual conference, currently being held in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was a good place to gauge opinion.