Two days of nursing strike action began on Wednesday morning at the University Hospital of North Durham, with impassioned picketers sending a stark message: "People are dying because there are not enough nurses."
The second wave of Royal College of Nursing strike action - part of the ongoing pay dispute with the Government - affects more than 50 NHS trusts around the UK, but only County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust in the North East. Nurses there did not hold walkouts in December.
On the picket lines, NHS workers said they had felt supported by the public, but there were also feelings of despair that strike action has been needed. Speaking to ChronicleLive, Victoria Jones said: "It's our first time on the picket line and we're not doing it for ourselves. We're doing it for the patients and the safety of the patients.
