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The biggest nursing strike in the history of Britain's public health service begins today.

Tens of thousands of nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are taking part, arguing they are underpaid and undervalued. However, the UK government says the union's demand for a 19 percent pay rise is unaffordable.

Staff will continue to provide "life-preserving" and some urgent care but routine surgery and other planned treatment is likely to be disrupted.

Mark Boothroyd is a striking nurse from a busy London accident and emergency department. He told Newsday: 鈥淥ur profession has been decimated by ten years of underfunding and neglect...We鈥檝e seen the value of our pay drop by 20 percent over the last decade and this has led to an increasing number of nurses leaving the profession鈥�this is leading to huge staff shortages鈥�we鈥檙e simply not able to provide safe care anymore for patients.鈥�

(Picture: Shows a van carrying a digital advert depicting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt with the words "Your last chance to save our NHS. Save Lives. Raise NHS pay now!" seen in Westminster on 17th November 2022. Credit: Tejas Sandhu / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images.)

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