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NHS staff smear themselves in fake blood in Downing Street protest over pay

An NHS worker at St Thomas' Hospital, London, attending a rally to demand the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.
An NHS worker at St Thomas' Hospital, London, at a rally to demand the government give them a 15% pay rise. (PA)

NHS staff have smeared themselves in fake blood and carried placards as they demanded a 15% pay rise in a protest outside Downing Street.

Workers in hospital scrubs with their roles emblazoned on them chanted and pretended to lie down dead as they call for “pay justice now”, following their work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Staff members at the protests included workers from St Thomas’ hospital – where Boris Johnson was a patient after he tested positive for coronavirus in March.

NHS workers outside Downing Street, London, attending a rally to demand the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.
NHS workers hold up pictures of Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock with blood on their faces outside Downing Street. (PA)
NHS workers stage a die-in outside Downing Street, London, attending a rally to demand the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.
NHS workers stage a die-in outside Downing Street as they demand a 15% pay rise. (PA)

Pictures of the prime minister and health secretary Matt Hancock with their heads covered in blood were also held by protesters, who yelled: “Clapping is not enough.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in July that the government was giving nearly 900,000 public sector workers a 3.1% pay rise due to their “vital contribution” amid the pandemic.

The increase includes doctors, dentists and teachers – but not nurses or junior doctors due to separate deals agreed to in 2018 and 2019.

One protester, critical care nurse Dave Carr, said that NHS staff were struggling on their current pay and needed a 15% pay rise

He said: “We can’t do our jobs properly because of the shortages there are in nursing staff and all grades of staff within the NHS. My pay has been eroded by about 20% over the last 10 years.

“I earn more or less the same as I earned 10 years ago. I’m a senior, senior nurse in critical care and I’m finding it difficult to survive. If you’re looking at young nurses or young health workers with families it’s even doubly difficult.

‘But if you’re looking at our ancillary staff – our porters, our cleaners – who are on the demonstration, it’s almost impossible for people to live…

NHS workers march to Downing Street, London, during a rally to demand the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.
NHS workers march to Downing Street as they demand 'pay justice now' following their work during the coronavirus pandemic. (PA)
NHS workers outside Downing Street, London, attending a rally to demand the government give them a 15 per cent pay rise.
NHS workers protest outside Downing Street as part of the ‘NHS Pay 15’ movement. (PA)

“We’re on our knees. We’re absolutely on our knees.”

Dave praised NHS staff for doing “absolutely everything that we could” for patients to get “the best possible care” during the pandemic.

He added: “I’m not proud of how the government handled the pandemic.”

The protests were organised as part of the ‘NHS Pay 15’ movement, which has seen thousands of workers demonstrate outside hospitals across the country.

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