NHS workers in Wales who are members of the union Unison have voted to take strike action over pay, in a formal ballot that closed on Monday.

Nurses, occupational therapists, porters, paramedics, medical secretaries, cooks and healthcare assistants were among those balloted in response to a decision by Welsh health minister Mark Drakeford to ignore the NHS Pay Review recommendation of a one per cent pay rise. A date has yet to be set for the strike.

A one-off, non-consolidated payment of £160 has been offered to all staff, but it will not count towards pension entitlements or shift pay and will not occur in future years.

The ballot result – more than 5,700 Unison health service members took part, though the union represents more than 30,000 in Wales – follows last week’s industrial action by the union’s NHS members in England, who staged a four-hour strike last Monday, followed by non-strike industrial action for the remainder of the week.

Among those who voted, the result was more than three-to-one in favour of a strike.