NURSES have “had enough of low pay, unsafe staffing levels and being taken for granted,” their union said today, amid warnings that NHS staff cannot afford their monthly bills despite working 13-hour shifts without breaks.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which confirmed the launch of its biggest ever industrial action with national walkouts on December 15 and 20, said Tory ministers have “chosen strike action” by refusing to consider inflation-proof wage boosts despite 12 years of austerity pay.

The industrial action, demanded by members in a national ballot last month, will run at many hospitals and trusts across England, Wales and Northern Ireland between 8am and 8pm each day.

Strikes in Scotland have been suspended after SNP ministers made a fresh offer worth more than 8 per cent for newly qualified nurses – still below double-digit price rises but higher than the average 4 per cent on offer elsewhere.

The walkouts will target routine treatment as opposed to emergency care. Details of which services face disruption are due to be announced imminently, but the union promised “very detailed and worked-through plans” to protect patients.

RCN general secretary Pat Cullen urged Health Secretary Steve Barclay to “stop the spin and start to speak,” accusing him of having “chosen strikes over speaking to me.”

Mr Barclay branded the union’s demands, which the North East Cambridgeshire MP described as a 19.2 per cent pay rise, as “not affordable.”

But Ms Cullen told BBC Breakfast that she did not recognise the figure and said Mr Barclay had made it clear he would only discuss “non-monetary issues” in any talks.

RCN England director Patricia Marquis added that the former Brexit secretary has “not been willing to discuss the things that need to be discussed – pay and safe staffing.

She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “He can say his door remains open but it remains open on his terms and it needs to remain open on terms that we can all agree on.

“So, unless he’s prepared to speak to us about the things that we’re in dispute over, his door is shut.”

Ms Marquis apologised in advance to patients but stressed workers withdrawing their labour is necessary to achieve change. 

She told Sky News: “I think we have to face facts that a day or two of strike action really is not the issue – the issue is years and years of underfunding.”

The warning came as more nurses spoke out about the unsustainable work and financial pressures they are under.

Kate Sturmer, 27, who works at central London’s St Thomas’ Hospital, said her monthly wages do not even cover her regular bills.

“I am a nurse from Australia and the UK seems to be the lowest [for pay,” she noted.

Her colleague, Lauren Cavile, 32, agreed, adding that nurses do not get paid enough to be “overworked, fatigued and burned out.”

Higher wages are essential to boost staff retention and recruitment, the pair stressed, as the sector reports tens of thousands of vacancies. 

Lauren Nielson, a midwife at the hospital, said staff are working 13-hour shifts with no breaks because of a lack of workers and demanding levels of paperwork.

She is not due to strike but described next month’s walkouts as “great,” adding: “I just want to be able to eat my dinner.”