NHS staff hold protest in Bristol calling for better pay and conditions

A protest calling for better pay and conditions for NHS staff has been held in Bristol - one of sixty across the country.

The campaigners are calling on the Government for a 15% pay rise for workers.

Nurse Alex Oldham said: "There are over 50,000 vacancies in the NHS according to the Royal College of Nursing, and we are running on chronic understaffing levels, and we have done for many years now. This puts a toll on the workforce - a workforce that's already exhausted from 15 months of being worked to the bone.

"I don't know how much longer we can carry on."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said:

"This year, the government has committed to providing NHS staff with a pay uplift at a time when uplifts in the wider public sector have been paused. In doing so, the government is acknowledging the extraordinary work of NHS staff through the pandemic."

The Government has made a 1% pay rise recommendation.

Dr Annie Archer rejects the idea that the government can only afford a 1% pay rise.

She said "Investment in the healthcare system brings back money in itself. These are people that are going to go out spending. Investment in health is one of the most important things a government can do as far as I can see."