SOUTHAMPTON nurses are striking next month following a dispute over pay.

Nurses from University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust will rally on the picket lines on January 18 and 19.

Nurses from Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Solent NHS Trust, and Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust will also be striking.

The news has been confirmed by the Royal Collage of Nursing this lunchtime.

This will be the first time nurses from Southampton will go on strike.

This month, on December 15 and 20, nurses across the country walked out.

The Guardian reports that nurses will refuse to work at 55 different NHS trusts on the January dates, which is up from 44 trusts from the December dates.

The RCN had been hoping for a pay rise five per cent above inflation but has stated that they will lower this demand if Health Secretary Stebe Barclay opens talks with them.

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