Alison Steadman has declared the country no longer deserves to be called Great Britain because of the “appalling” state of the health service.
The Gavin and Stacey star blasted Tory ministers for their “ridiculous” and “disgraceful” failure to get round the table with nursing staff for pay talks.
Ms Steadman, who is a patron of Keep Our NHS Public, warned that “people are dying” as there are not enough doctors, nurses and ambulance workers.
The health unions have offered to call off walkouts beginning on Thursday if Health Secretary Steve Barclay agrees to hold negotiations on pay, but he has refused.
In an interview with the Mirror, Mrs Steadman said: “I think it is ridiculous, they should be talking about pay. These are not greedy people who want a pay increase.
“They are in one of the poorest paid jobs in the country and this shouldn't be the case.
“Thousands are leaving the nursing profession because the pay is so poor. They work long hours, they are totally committed.
She added: “There's got to be something done. There's got to be a negotiation. The fact that they (the nurses) are threatening to strike means that they're really being pushed to the absolute limit and the government should be dealing with this.”
Ms Steadman warned that the health service has been “underfunded” and “not respected in the way it should be” during the last 12 years of Tory rule.
She said: “We've all had experience of there just not being enough nurses and not being enough ambulances. It is just diabolical that people are being kept in ambulances for 12 hours outside A&E. It is just not on.
“People are dying because they can't get into hospital. We need more nurses, more doctors, more ambulance workers. We need more hospitals.”
The actress, 76, told of her own experience during a shopping trip earlier this year.
“I was in Sainsbury's a few months ago and this poor elderly woman had fallen in the entrance,” she said.
“There were people around trying to put their coats over her. She'd been lying on the ground for three hours waiting for an ambulance.
“I just thought this is not on. This poor, poor woman. It was like a third world country.
“You can't call it Great Britain anymore, I don't think.
“I love my country, I’m faithful to my country, but I do think over the last 12 years, things have gone down.”
Ms Steadman, who played Pam in the BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey, praised Labour leader Keir Starmer as “very good”. “I think he's improved over the last couple of years, I think he's gained in confidence, I think he's doing a good job,” she added.
Keep Our NHS Public is campaigning for a well funded and fully publicly owned and provided health service.
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