Nurses and healthcare staff on strike in Newcastle-under-Lyme say they want fair pay to prevent more people leaving the profession.

They say the current situation is leading to people taking better-paid jobs in the private sector and is putting younger people off joining the health service.

One of those on the picket line outside Bradwell Hospital yesterday (18th January) was 22-year-old Tom Powell, a newly-qualified out of hours nurse who recently completed three years studying Adult Nursing at Keele University.

He and others who were on his course are concerned about their futures within the career they've only just set out on. He joined the picket to show solidarity with older colleagues who've served in the NHS for longer than he has.

Newly-qualified out of hours nurse Tom Powell (Richard Price).

He said: "I'm here for fair pay for nursing, and getting new people into nursing, helping with staffing levels and keeping it safe for patients."

He said he and others who've just completed their training discuss staffing levels on wards and in the community and how this has a negative impact on patient safety.

He said he also has concerns about encouraging future generations into nursing.

"It used to be free [to study to become a nurse], but it's £9,000 per year now.

"A lot of people are walking out of nursing into different career paths, and it's such an important role so we need as many nurses as possible.

"I'm here supporting my colleagues, having nurses recognised really and having fair pay."

Although he became officially qualified in September, his graduation ceremony will take place today (19th January) and shortly after speaking to the LDRS he left the picket line to pick up a suit ready for his ceremony.

Another of those striking on Wednesday was Charlotte Harrison, 33, who is a senior staff nurse and has worked for the NHS since 2006.

Senior staff nurse Charlotte Harrison (Richard Price).

She works in the out of hours service, and said: "I think the staffing levels are bordering on dangerous now.

"We're hearing that people are waiting 14 hours for ambulances, they're backing up the corridors in A&E.

"People are dying in the corridors because there's not enough nurses, and all the government's opinion on the matter is 'we'll wait until next year' but people are dying while we're waiting and it's not good enough."

She added: "We work out of hours, so we work through the night. We're very much a hidden service.

"I can get home in the morning and feel really emotionally drained.

"I struggle to sleep, as do many of my colleagues because we're worrying about what we've not done, what we can't do because we haven't got the staffing.

"The public are relying on us so much – particularly at night – and there's just not enough of us to provide the service they need."

She said she was also worried about the number of newly-qualified nurses turning to the private sector after seeing the reality of working conditions in the NHS.

Community staff nurse Geraint Hughes (Richard Price).

Meanwhile, community staff nurse Geraint Hughes, 36, said the number of shifts that are understaffed is pushing nurses to quit, which only makes the problem worse.

He said 80% of shifts are understaffed and nationally 25,000 nurses quit the profession due to stress and not being able to provide the level of care they joined the profession to give.

He has been with the NHS since 2011, and says his pay has decreased by 20% in that time as inflation has overtaken pay rises.

Mr Hughes commented: "People are just leaving in droves because we're not being paid for the skills and the amount of care that we're putting in.

"It's about keeping patients safe, because there aren't enough nurses – and people don't want to be a nurse anymore because the pay is not reflective of the amount of work we put in."

He added: "Since I started in 2011 I've seen a marked decrease in the quality of care that we provide to patients.

"Every year there's less and less staff, there's more and more patients being kicked out of hospital that require care out in the community and we are struggling to meet those patients' needs at all times.

"We're just struggling, we're trying our best but there's only so much we can give.

"We're reaching a point now where we have to stand up and say 'enough is enough'.

"We just want to do the job that we were trained for."

He conceded the RCN's demands for a 19% pay rise were unrealistic, but hoped the government would meet them in the middle.

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