NHS heroes demand 15 per cent pay rise at St Thomas’s, UCL, Lewisham, Chelsea and Woolwich hospitals

NHS workers at hospitals are holding rallies on August 26 at 5pm to demand the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.

Rallies will be held at St Thomas Hospital, Homerton Hospital, Lewisham Hospital, University College London Hospital, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.

NHS workers will rally at their hospitals then march to Whitehall and hold a rally there to pressure the government to give them a 15 per cent pay rise. The rallies are being co-ordinated by the campaigning group NHS Workers Say No! to Pay Inequality, who organised a demonstrations in over 40 towns on August 8.

They are being supported by Nurses United, Unite the Union, the GMB union and Keep Our NHS Public – Staff Voices.

NHS staff have seen inflation reduce the value of their pay by 20 per cent over the last decade. Low pay in the NHS is contributing to over 100,000 vacancies, which prevents the NHS providing safe and effective care for patients, and forces NHS staff to work with unmanageable and unsafe workloads.

Mark Boothroyd, A&E staff nurse and branch secretary of Unite at Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital said: “Our staff are exhausted and demoralised due to what we’ve been through during the pandemic. We urgently need the government to acknowledge and reward our heroic work, and repair the damage done to NHS pay by 10 years of austerity.”

Eve Kirwan, a critical care outreach nurse said: “I have gained extensive knowledge and experience from nursing for over 20 years, however my salary has remained the same since 2010. I feel the government is taking advantage of skilled staff like myself who have dedicated their lives to the NHS.”

Jordan Rivera, an occupational therapist said: “Even as a senior occupational therapist I have to work bank shifts twice a month to be able to afford childcare. I can’t believe the government thinks we deserve to just struggle on as we are, after that we’ve been through during the pandemic. Something has to change.”

NHS Workers Say No! To Pay Inequality has called another day of demonstrations for September 12. Protests will take place around the country. In London NHS workers will march from Broadcasting House to Trafalgar Square to protest for a 15 per cent pay rise.