'About time we valued nurses' - Royal College of Nursing

Nurses are "exhausted" at the end of their shifts and often stay late to provide extra care, said Royal College of Nursing chief executive Janet Davies.

The vast majority of hospitals in England are struggling to recruit enough nurses and are falling short of their own targets for levels of safe staffing, NHS figures show. The Department of Health said staffing was a priority.

"We have to keep the nurses we've already got...They're leaving because they're overtired - it's a bit of a vicious circle," said Janet Davis, who is a nurse herself.

"Nurses haven’t had a significant pay rise for a long, long time, they are struggling to make ends meet. It is about time we valued our nurses," she added.