Public support for NHS workers going on strike is growing, the Mirror can reveal.
YouGov polling shows 65% of Brits support nurses going on strike - up from 60% three months ago.
The representative poll of 1,653 adults commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing showed 79% believe there are not enough nurses in the NHS to deliver safe care.
When asked which area of public spending should be protected most the NHS came out on top with 56% saying it should be protected.
This was followed by 26% for welfare and schools, 24% for policing and 20% for defence.
The Royal College of Nursing is currently balloting its members over strike action.
It comes after analysis by London Economics this week showed real terms pay for nurses has dropped by up to a third during a decade of Tory rule.
The NHS is facing unprecedented winter strikes after Britain’s biggest health union Unison this week became the latest to launch a ballot for industrial action.
It followed the Royal College of Nursing, GMB, Unite, the Royal College of Midwives and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy to either ballot or plan for strike action.
Workers are angry over the Government’s average pay increase award of around 4% for most NHS workers in England.
The devolved government in Wales offered NHS workers the same while the Scottish administration has offered a 5% rise.
They fall well short of the RPI rate of inflation currently at 12.6% and unions are demanding an above inflation rise.
General Secretary Pat Cullen, said: “The public stands with nursing staff as they know that when nurses speak, they speak for patients.
“It is for them that our members are voting to strike.
“Nurses have already suffered a decade of real terms pay cuts, and many simply cannot afford to practise anymore.
“They are being forced to leave the profession and a chronic shortage of nurses is putting patients at risk.
“Nurses are saying enough is enough, for our profession and for our patients.”
The RCN ballot closes on Wednesday.
