A FRESH wave of NHS strikes could be on the horizon after Unite members overwhelmingly rejected the government’s 3.6 per cent pay offer today.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is also expected to turn down the proposal, the BBC reported on Monday, while members of the GMB union have already rejected it.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The NHS can’t be repaired while the government continues to erode pay and drastically cut NHS budgets.

“This pay award does nothing to reverse 15 years of real-terms pay reduction.”

“The lowest-paid in the NHS will feel especially cheated because part of the award was paid out early in order to get them above the minimum wage.

“The fact that needed to be done shows how far we are from where we need to be.”

The union is urging the government to come to the table to avert strike action, warning that walkouts could affect multiple trusts as well as national bodies such as NHS England and NHS Blood and Transplant.

A Unite survey found that two-thirds of staff were already experiencing the real-life effects of cuts in their workplace.

Some 95 per cent said they were prepared to take industrial action to oppose further degradation of health services.

NHS leaders warned in May that trusts had been asked to make drastic cuts as the service faces a predicted £6.6 billion deficit.

Analysis conducted that month by campaign website Lowdown found that 18 trusts were already planning to cut more than 7,000 posts.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ”We can’t move any further on headline pay, but this government wants to work constructively with unions to address their major concerns – that includes pay structure reform, concerns about career progression, and wider working conditions.”