The most senior nurse at the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust has joined a call for there to be a "swift resolution" to the NHS pay dispute.
Maurya Cushlow, the trust's executive chief nurse, has - along with colleagues at the Shelford Group, which brings together ten of England's largest teaching hospital trusts - signed a letter which says: "Our message is that – for the sake of our patients and our profession – industrial action needs swift resolution."
The letter was released on the eve of strike action from Royal College of Nurses nurses which is set to last for two days. Ambulance service staff who are part of the GMB union are also walking out on Monday.
