Nurses will begin voting next month on whether they wish to strike over pay.

The Royal College of Nursing is urging hundreds of thousands of its members to say yes to industrial action when the ballot opens on September 15.

If enough nurses vote in favour of a walkout it would be the first one ever by the union in England and Wales.

Nurses who are eligible to vote will be sent their ballot in the post and have four weeks to reply - with the union now urging members to ensure home addresses and employer details are up to date so that every member of staff entitled to cast a vote gets one.

The RCN Council says it has increased its strike fund to £50 million in readiness - up from £35 million - to provide some financial support to members who could lose earnings during any industrial action that may take place.

The ballot has been called in response to the latest NHS pay award - with the union saying it wished to see a fully funded pay rise of 5% above inflation, to combat years of what it describes as 'wage stagnation' and to acknowledge the worsening cost of living crisis.

Instead it says the government offer is £1,400 for all NHS pay bands, enhanced for the top of band 6 and band 7, meaning the pay award becomes 4% which would leave an experienced nurse over £1,000 worse off in real terms.

While acknowledging industrial action is a 'last resort' the union says the current NHS staffing crisis is also proving to be an unacceptable risk to both staff and patients - while it says a recent poll revealed two-thirds of people in England would back nurses striking.

Pat Cullen, RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive, said: "Nursing staff will stop at nothing to protect their patients. Staff shortages are putting patient safety at risk and the government’s failure to listen has left us with no choice but to advocate for strike action.

"A lifetime of service must never mean a lifetime of poverty. Ministers’ refusal to recognise the skill and responsibility of the job is pushing people out of the profession. The next prime minister must change course urgently."

Nurses join numerous professions who have either been balloted or voted in favour of strike action this summer.

Railway workers, train drivers, barristers, Royal Mail staff and those employed by BT and Amazon are among those to have either voted for industrial action or walked out in protests over pay.

The National Education Union and the Association of School and College Leaders is expected to press ahead with strike ballots later this year while the British Medical Association could ballot its members early in 2023 if agreements over pay and working conditions can't be reached.

There are also concerns the Fire Brigades Union will also ballot its members over strike action if a pay deal cannot be agreed - with the union's Executive Council voting unanimously last month to reject the current 2% pay offer.