Nurses today urged the government to give nurses a pay rise 'to preserve the NHS' as they took to the picket lines for the second day of strike action. On picket lines in Bradford, Cambridge and Birmingham, striking NHS heroes slammed the government for what they said was a failure to properly staff the service. Striking nurses said staff were leaving the NHS through burnout and exhaustion, leaving those left in the job stretched to breaking point. Some nurses said they could not afford the heating as temperatures plunged to -7C despite working more than 10 hours a day. Others told how they would get home exhausted after a hard shift and break down in tears as the thought of leaving their stretched colleagues understaffed. There are fears that nurses were unable to meet patients' care demands due to a lack of staff. Outside Addenbrokes Hospital in Cambridge, Wendy Garri Godino, 27, who earns £27,000 a year in surgical assessment, said: "This winter I can't afford the heating unless it's extremely necessary. It was really cold last week and we couldn't turn it on. "My colleagues are off sick through getting cold, stress and anxiety and we burden our colleagues because we are becoming the patients." Sue Walters, a senior nurse at Addenbrookes hospital, said she is struggling to cope whilst getting paid pro-rata the same amount she was paid 10 years ago. The mum of two, who has worked as a nurse for almost 30 years, said: "It's disappointing that we've been put in this position. It is the response of the government that made me think we have to do something about this. "Primarily I am striking because the staff shortages are just ridiculous. Yes, it's about pay but mostly it's about the patients. "We're so short staff that they are not getting the care that they deserve. That's what we're trying to fight for." Antonella Castellana, a 33-year-old Junior Sister, said: "We can't afford a mortgage whilst living in Cambridge, we can't afford the petrol to drive into work. "We take care of patients, we take care of everyone but we are not being taken care of by this government and we haven't been for years." Patricia Harper, 60, a Senior Health Care Assistant has worked at the hospital for nine years and been part of the NHS for 19. She said: “We are fed up of not being paid enough.
