Nurses have expressed their “utter dismay” at the Government’s proposed 3% pay increase and described the offer as “a big kick in the teeth”.
NHS staff claim they are dealing with a “massive haemorrhage” of workers following the pandemic and said the proposal was insulting.
Hundreds of medical workers, both past and present, took to the streets on Friday and marched to Downing Street in protest of the deal.
Demonstrators gathered outside St Thomas’ hospital in central London before making their way across Westminster bridge to Whitehall.
Some held banners with slogans saying “Save our NHS from the Tories” and called for the Prime Minister to listen.
Nurse Janet Maiden described the pay increase as “not significant enough” and the resulting staff shortages as “criminal”.
“It’s a big kick in the teeth because we know and we’ve heard and seen that there’s money in the system,” she told the PA news agency, speaking outside Downing Street.
Real insult
“I think people naively thought, especially when they saw Boris Johnson naming the nurses who cared for him … that he might change his mind, so, yes, it is a real insult.
“Three per cent is not significant enough for us, I’m afraid.
“People are voting with their feet and leaving the health service, and that’s criminal.”
David Carr added: “I was in utter dismay, we’re dealing with a massive haemorrhage of staff from the NHS, huge vacancies among nurses and other grades of staff.
“Three per cent is not going to rectify the historic crisis of staffing inside the NHS.”
Related: Strike action on the cards as NHS pay rise branded ‘shambolic’ by unions