UNITE became the latest union to reject the Tory government’s much-criticised below-inflation NHS pay offer for England today.

Some 52 per cent of the union’s health service members voted against a one-off payment for 2022-23 and 5 per cent for this year on a 55 per cent turnout in a recent consultative ballot.

The world’s biggest nursing union, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), and the Society of Radiographers have also rejected the deal, but GMB joined Unison and unions representing midwives and physiotherapists in backing it.

GMB confirmed 56 per cent voted to accept on a turnout of 51 per cent.

The result, which came despite the general union warning “much more needs to be done for health workers,” could pave the way for ministers to implement the wage offer as most staff on NHS agenda for change contracts may now be in favour.

But Unite general secretary Sharon Graham pledged to keep up the fight, saying: “It is quite frankly a joke that NHS workers are being forced to fight for a decent pay rise after years of pay freezes and all their pandemic sacrifices. 

“The government should be delivering generous rewards for that instead of a parade of insults, bullying and lies about our industrial action.”

RCN members are set to strike from 8pm Sunday evening, but the walkout, originally planned for 48 hours, will now end on Monday after the government successfully challenged the action in the High Court earlier this week.

Despite the widely condemned intervention, which RCN general secretary Pat Cullen slammed as the “darkest day” in the dispute so far, thousands of Unite NHS members are still due to down tools in already announced action on Tuesday.

Workers at London’s Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital, four ambulance trusts including Yorkshire and the West Midlands, three NHS trusts including East Lancashire and Sandwell and West Birmingham, as well as staff at Christies Pathology Partnership, will all participate.

Many will join a May Day march through central London, the union announced today.

Ms Graham added: “Rishi Sunak now needs to take over this mess, roll his sleeves up and sort it — isn’t that what a prime minister is supposed to do for goodness sake?”

Further walkouts in both Scotland and Wales have been avoided so far after much improved offers from devolved SNP and Labour ministers respectively.