Midwives have voted to accept the latest NHS pay offer, their union has announced. In a turnout of 48% of eligible members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) working in the NHS in England, 57% voted to accept the deal – with 43% rejecting it. The offer covers two pay years – a one-off amount for 2022-23 and a 5% wage rise for 2023-24. Alice Sorby, the director of employment relations at the RCM, said: “The offer was not perfect, and it was not everything we asked for or that midwives and maternity support workers deserve. “However, it was a step forward from the government’s entrenched position on 2022-23 pay and improved on its directions to the pay review body for 2023-24. “It was the power of the collective unions standing together, with our members behind us, that brought the government to the table and led to this improved offer.” It was made to NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts which includes the majority of workers apart from doctors, dentists and senior managers. Some unions have said yes to the offer while others, including nurses, have rejected it. Nurses have since set out plans for a fresh strike, with the government due to challenge their plans in court on Thursday. Members of the Society of Radiographers in England also voted against the offer. But members of Unison, the largest NHS union, voted overwhelmingly to accept it. Other unions – including Unite, GMB and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy – are due to announce their ballot results in the coming days. The NHS Staff Council – made up of health unions, employers and government representatives – are to meet on 2 May to discuss the outcomes of the consultations by each union and report back to the government. Separately, junior doctors from the British Medical Association are also in a bitter dispute with the government over pay. Medics staged the biggest strike in NHS history in April, leading to almost 200,000 appointments and operations being postponed. On Tuesday, the BMA’s junior doctors committee pleaded with the government to enter discussions with the union, either directly or through the conciliation service Acas.