Image source, Reuters

A planned 48-hour strike by nurses including the first May bank holiday will "present serious risks and challenges", an NHS chief has said.

Nurses in the Royal College of Nursing union have voted 54% to 46% to reject the government's pay offer in England.

Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers which represents all NHS workers, said this strike would include nurses in emergency departments.

Members of Unison - which represents some NHS staff - accepted the offer.

The award on the table from the government is a 5% pay rise for 2023-24.

The government has said the new strike amounts to an escalation "based on a vote from the minority of the nursing workforce".

The walkout from 20:00 BST on 30 April to 20:00 on 2 May will involve NHS nurses in emergency departments, intensive care, cancer and other wards.

The announcement comes just as the NHS is getting back to normal after a four-day walkout by junior doctors - who are demanding a 35% pay rise - ended at 07:00 on Saturday.

Sir Julian said "Now, looking at what we've learned from the last four days which is where junior doctors haven't been working in those key areas, we've been managed to cover that with a lot of consultants and staff covering those gaps.

"But with nursing staff, obviously that represent a significant proportion of the workforce, taking action in those areas as well that will present an unprecedented level of action, that we haven't yet seen from nursing stuff and therefore the challenges with that, the organisation and all the work that go into managing and mitigating that will be enormous."

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