Nurses have voted to accept a three-year pay deal worth just under 8 per cent.

The Royal College of Nursing said its members backed the deal, which was recommended by the union's leadership, by an overwhelming majority of 92 per cent.

General secretary Dr Peter Carter described the deal as fair, balanced and the best in the public sector.

He said: "We worked hard to negotiate this deal for our members and it's clear from their response they want us to accept it.

"We have secured a commitment to reopen pay talks should inflation continue to rise or if there are significant changes to the labour market - a clause which is very important to our members.

"We have secured a pivotal role for the independent pay review body to monitor the economic situation and we will hold the Government to their commitment.

"This deal remains the best deal in the public sector and members taking part in our consultation agreed with us. We can now move forward to get this year's pay award into members' pockets as soon as possible."

The RCN said the deal was worth up to 16 per cent for some of its lowest paid members, including healthcare assistants and newly-qualified nurses.

But other health workers, including midwives, ambulance staff and physiotherapists have rejected the deal.

Unison, which represents almost 500,000 health workers, is expected to announce the result of its ballot on the pay offer later.

Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "This is great news. This pay deal was constructed with skilled and professional union negotiators.

"The outcome is a fair settlement that will help those on the lowest wages, increase the earning potential for hundreds of thousands of staff and allow them to climb the pay ladder more quickly.

"The NHS and patients will benefit from pay stability over the next three years that will allow everyone in the service to concentrate on improving patient care even further.

"We now look forward to a formal response from the NHS unions and I am hopeful it will be a positive one."

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