Nurses across England will go on strike again on two consecutive days in January after the Government failed to say it would reopen pay negotiation talks.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said nurses will refuse to work at 55 different NHS trusts on 18 and 19 January – 11 more than the 44 trusts in England where nurses staged their first strikes on 15 and 20 December. Tens of thousands of appointments and surgeries were cancelled as a result.

RCN members will not be striking in Wales and Northern Ireland again in January, despite taking industrial action this month. The College said its commitment to members is that everyone employed where strike action has been mandated will have the opportunity to strike if the dispute continues.

The RCN said it had no choice but to escalate industrial action following 10 days of no contact between it and the Health Secretary Steve Barclay.

Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, said: “The government had the opportunity to end this dispute before Christmas but instead they have chosen to push nursing staff out into the cold again in January. I do not wish to prolong this dispute but the prime minister has left us with no choice.

“The voice of nursing will not be ignored. Staff shortages and low pay make patient care unsafe. The sooner ministers come to the negotiating table, the sooner this can be resolved. I will not dig in if they don’t dig in.”

Rishi Sunak said he is “sad” and “disappointed” about widespread strike action, but he insisted refusing to negotiate on public sector pay is the “right thing” in the long term.

The RCN is calling for a pay rise of 5 per cent above retail inflation rate – currently 14 per cent – against which salary increases are often judged. NHS staff in England and Wales, including nurses, have already been given a pay rise of £1,400, which equates to an average pay rise of around 4.5 per cent – rising to 9.3 per cent for the lowest paid. In Northern Ireland, NHS staff are to get a similar increase – backdated to April.

Two days of nurses strikes were held in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on 15 and 20 December, involving more than 21,000 nursing staff.

On Thursday, ambulance workers represented by Unison announced fresh strike action in England, with members to walk out on January 11 and 23. The strike will affect London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West and will involve all ambulance employees, not just the 999 response crews as was the case on Wednesday.

Unison said the new strikes were a result of the Government’s “repeated refusal” to negotiate improvements to NHS pay this year. The GMB union called off a planned strike by emergency staff for December 28 and members will instead join Unison colleagues in the industrial action on January 11.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said next week’s strike had been suspended after “amazing” public support for industrial action this week. “We know the public will appreciate being able to enjoy Christmas without any additional anxiety. They support us and we support them,” she said.

“The workforce crisis in our NHS is so severe and our commitment to getting ambulance staff the proper pay they deserve is stronger than ever, so we are scheduling a further date for action on January 11 2023. The incredible British public are why we are suspending our action over the Christmas period.

“But it also means the Government can now do what ambulance workers and the public want – get round the table and talk pay now. We are here 24/7. Any time, any place. Over to you, Steve Barclay. Everyone is waiting.”

Ms Harrison urged ministers to make a pay offer to striking workers, insisting it does not necessarily have to beat inflation. She said her union’s would only be resolved with a higher pay offer, but that any offer would be taken back to members for a vote.

Ms Harrison told the Guardian: “What we are saying to the government is come to us, make us an offer, GMB members will vote on it. We are not making a specific demand. We would still like to see an inflation-busting offer and the restoration of decades’ worth of lost wages, but if an offer is made, we will take that back to our members to decide.”

In Scotland, RCN members this week overwhelmingly voted to reject a revised NHS pay offer from the Scottish government. Strike action had been paused pending the ballot’s outcome, but RCN Scotland now will announce dates for strike action early in the new year.

Scotland’s Health Secretary is to meet union leaders on Friday in a bid to avoid health service strikes bringing parts of the NHS to a halt next month. Humza Yousaf will hold discussions after nurses north of the border overwhelmingly rejected the latest pay offer put to them, which would have seen their wages rise by an average of 7.5 per cent and the lowest pay packets climb by 11.3 per cent.

But Nicola Sturgeon told First Minister’s Questions on Thursday that the latest deal was “the best and final offer”. “Just as has been the case up until now, we will do everything we can to avoid industrial action in our NHS,” she told MSPs.

“We want to obviously avoid the disruption that will bring to patients across the country, but because we value those who work in our NHS and I want to make sure they get the best possible pay rise that we can give them. We have maximised what we can do within this financial year.”

On Wednesday, the RCN announced that 82 per cent of its members in Scotland had rejected the deal put to them, and that its staff may strike for the first time ever. The deal was also rejected by nearly two-thirds of Royal College of Midwives members.

When the RCN announced they had rejected the offer, Julie Lamberth, its Scottish board chairwoman, said the “ball is in the Scottish Government’s court if strike action is going to be avoided”.

“Make no mistake – we do not want to go on strike,” she said. “Years of being undervalued and understaffed have left us feeling we have been left with no option because enough is enough.”

Jacki Lambert, RCM director for Scotland, said the latest pay offer was “simply not good enough”. She said: “It goes nowhere near addressing the rising cost of living and would see many midwives actually worse off in real terms.”

Next month, the British Medical Association (BMA) will send out ballot papers in England and Scotland asking members if they want to strike with members expected to vote overwhelmingly in favour. NHS leaders have warned the health service “cannot go on coping” with prolonged strikes.

Mr Barclay said: “While union members will not be going ahead with strikes over Christmas, we are disappointed they have announced further co-ordinated strikes in January to cause maximum disruption at a time when the NHS is already under extreme pressure.

“Ambulance staff on picket lines have been raising concerns about working conditions and handover times, so it is important to use this extra time to keep talking about how we can make the NHS a better place to work. However, the unaffordable pay demands of unions would mean taking money away from frontline services and cause further delays to care.

“Strikes are in no one’s best interest, least of all patients, and I urge unions to reconsider further industrial action to avoid an even greater impact on patients.”