Nursing leaders warned patients are being put at risk “every single day” due to the crisis in the NHS as they downed tools for the biggest strike yet.
Fed-up staff are taking part in a 28-hour walkout across England until 11.59pm tonight after voting to reject the latest Government pay offer.
A&E and cancer staff are joining the walkouts for the first time, with unprecedented disruption expected for patients.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) General Secretary Pat Cullen hit back at Tory claims that the strikes were putting people at risk and said the union had been working “tirelessly” to protect patients.
She confirmed that nurses can be called in to offer minimal staffing in emergency and intensive care after talks over the weekend to allow exemptions to protect “life and limb" services.
Asked whether lives will be put at risk because of the strikes, Ms Cullen said: “Well, you've heard me say time and time again: why are nurses going on strike?
"They're going on strike because patients' lives are being put at risk every single day and why - because we have tens of thousands of vacant nursing posts.”
In a message to NHS bosses, Ms Cullen said: “None of those people, I believe, have walked in the shoes of our nursing staff.
"I would say to them as well, it's interesting that they've come today to talk about the risk that's posed as a result of our nurses taking strike action, for the very reason that I've said, because of the crisis within the health service.
"And I would ask them, for those other 364 days of the year - speak up for their nursing staff, tell what the risk is that they are carrying every single day.”
The BMA doctors union is asking its members to show solidarity by visiting picket lines when they aren't working, and to show support by bringing snacks or drinks.
Keir Starmer told ministers to get round the table to resolve the strikes.
He said: "I don't want to see strikes go ahead. The way to avoid strikes is to get in the room with the nurses and resolve these issues."
Dame Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said: "We are grateful to the RCN for agreeing a process of safety critical mitigations and we continue to support all nurses, those who work and those who take industrial action.
"These mitigations do not represent a return to standard staffing. The industrial action will still have a very significant impact on services during the strike period and patients can expect to see longer waits for care."
NHS England has urged people not to seek NHS care unless they really need it - and to go to pharmacies or call 111 if they have a non-urgent issue.
The RCN was forced to cut short its strike after the High Court its mandate for walkouts lapsed on Tuesday.
It comes as the NHS pay deal was on the brink of being agreed after the GMB union voted to accept the Government’s offer on Friday.
The RCN, along with Unite, have rejected the Government’s pay offer of a 5% pay rise for 2023/24 and a lump sum bonus for last year.
But the majority of the 14 unions on the NHS Staff Council, which acts as a bargaining group, have rejected the offer.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the RCN strike "risks patient safety".
And he argued: "I think this strike is premature and is disrespectful to those trade unions that will be meeting on Tuesday."
NHS England asked those who need non-urgent care to go to pharmacies or dial 111 as their first port of call.
An RCN spokesperson said: "Whole services are not derogated like previous strikes but national agreement was reached on raising staffing levels in some key areas to preserve life and limb.
"The RCN and the NHS are clear, however, that this is not usual staffing levels either. This strike action will be more intense than before but the duty to protect life remains".
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Which trusts are affected by RCN strikes in England?
East Midlands
Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust
Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB
NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Eastern
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust
East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust
NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB
NHS Mid and South Essex ICB
NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB
NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust
Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
London
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust
Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
NHS North Central London ICB
NHS South West London ICB
Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
North West
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust
Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust
Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB
North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust
The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
Wirral Community Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
Northern
Country Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust
Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust
North of England Commissioning Support (NECS)
North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
South East
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Kent and Medway ICB
NHS Surrey Heartlands ICB
Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
South East Coast Ambulance Service
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust
Solent NHS Trust
South Central Ambulance Services NHS Foundation Trust
Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
South West
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB
NHS Devon ICB (One Devon)
NHS Dorset ICB (One Dorset)
NHS Gloucestershire ICB (One Gloucestershire)
North Bristol NHS Trust
Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
West Midlands
Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Dudley Integrated Health and Care NHS Trust
Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
Midlands and Lancashire CSU
Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB (BSol ICB)
NHS Black Country ICB
Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust
The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Yorkshire and the Humber
Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust
NHS North West Yorkshire ICB
Sheffield Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
National employers
Health Education England
NHS Blood and Transplant
NHS England
NHS Resolution
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