Striking nurses are placing sufferers in danger because of the lack of exemptions for emergency care, a minister says.

Hospitals are working with low employees numbers in some areas after nurses walked out at present.

The 28-hour strike by Royal College of Nursing members ends at midnight tomorrow and so they have stated that they won't present emergency cowl.

It was as a result of final till Tuesday however the plan was curtailed when it was dominated illegal by a High Court decide.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper stated: “It clearly does put patients at risk, which is why we urge unions not to go ahead and strike.”

READ MORE: Rail minister says RMT must scrap 'appalling' Eurovision train strike for Ukrainian guests

He had earlier urged the RCN to just accept the pay supply for its members. He added: “I would urge them to think again and do what other unions in the health service have done, which is to accept what I think is a fair and reasonable pay offer, reflecting the value that we do place on hardworking NHS staff.”

It got here as Pat Cullen, basic secretary of the RCN, stated nurses have labored “tirelessly” with the NHS to make sure affected person security.

She stated: “There are national exemptions in place for a range of services, for emergency departments, for intensive care units, for neonatal units, paediatric intensive care units, those really acute urgent services.

“We have put exemptions in place, we’ve worked tirelessly with NHS England.

“In fact, it was the Royal College of Nursing who contacted NHS England to ask for a process to be put in place so we made sure the strike was safe for patients.”

NHS England is urging the general public to make use of the well being service correctly. It stated emergency and pressing care was the precedence, with folks requested to make use of pharmacies and 111 the place doable.

The RCN stated it is going to solely settle for derogations – the place unions agree to offer staffing throughout industrial motion – on request, which means most nurses in these areas will strike for the primary time.

The union stated it expects NHS employers to evaluation companies and deal with delivering “life-preserving care” however stated it will work with the NHS to take care of “extreme circumstances”.

Yet NHS England warned staffing ranges for some areas of the nation shall be “exceptionally low”.

Mr Harper additionally lashed out on the RMT transport union for “cynically targeting the Eurovision song contest” by calling strikes on the identical day.

RMT members are as a result of strike on May 13 after the union rejected the most recent pay deal from prepare operators.

The RMT stated the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the prepare operators, had “torpedoed” pay talks.

But Mr Harper stated a “fair and reasonable pay offer” had been made.

He urged the RMT to place the pay supply to its members. He added: “The reason [it is] so appalling is because that’s not our song contest. We’re hosting it for Ukraine.”

The RDG proposed a yr’s pay rise of 5 per cent depending on the RMT agreeing to enter a “dispute resolution process” and accepting the precept of modifications to working practices.