Nurses warn there won't be anyone left as they are forced to work overtime to pay for the bus fare

Rishi Sunak has been urged to end nurses' strikes over pay as tens of thousands stage a second strike.

The nurses have warned the Prime Minister that there will soon be no one left to care for patients and that they are even far too exhausted to speak to their families after a long day at work.

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Royal College of Nursing director Pat Cullen has called on the Prime Minister to come to the negotiating table after Health Secretary Steve Barclay twice refused to discuss pay in meetings with the nurses union.

On the picket line yesterday, Ms Cullen said: 'I want to say to the Prime Minister, please step up now and do what is decent on behalf of every patient and member of the public.

"But please do what's decent for the nursing staff as well: go around the table and start talking to me on their behalf. That's the only respectful and decent thing to do. C is completely now on his desk to provide a solution to this."

Around a quarter of England's hospitals and community teams took part in the strike, alongside all trusts in Northern Ireland and all but one health board in Wales.

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But the RCN provided staffing for chemotherapy, emergency cancer services, dialysis, intensive care units, neonatal and pediatric intensive care and some other services.

Rishi Sunak urged to end nurses' strikes over pay (

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The union is locked in a bitter dispute with the government that is likely to escalate in the new year and last up to six months.

No10 has confirmed that the Prime Minister has not chaired a single COBRA meeting on the strikes and has not joined talks with the unions. Ms Cullen said nurses will have 'no choice' but to continue strikes in January if ministers do not come to the table.

Speaking outside the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, she added: 'Unfortunately more nurses will be involved in future strikes and other hospitals will also be included in industrial action.

When asked if this would include strike-protected areas such as cancer appointments, she replied, "Those decisions have not been made yet.