GMB members have voted overwhelmingly to reject the three-year pay deal for NHS and ambulance workers, it was announced today at the union’s conference in Brighton.

In total, 87 per cent of NHS members turned down the deal –  which amounts to three more years of real-terms pay cuts for over half of NHS employees, GMB says.

Tens of thousands of the NHS members – including two thirds of all ambulance staff in England – rejected it.

Since 2010, paramedics have lost an average of over £14,000, midwives £18,000 and staff nurse £14,500 as a result of the government’s cap on NHS pay.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that RPI inflation is set to increase by 9.6 per cent over the next three years. 

The union will convene a meeting of representatives on Friday June 15 to consider the next steps.

GMB general secretary Tim Roache said: “After a nearly a decade of pay pinching, the prospect of a further three years of cuts to wages is unacceptable.”

GMB national officer Kevin Brandstatter said: “[The offer] does nothing to address the recruitment and retention crisis and it leaves the door open to new employees in the NHS being employed on worse terms and conditions than existing health service workers.”