Nurses, cleaning staff and clerical workers today demanded a fair pay deal in a protest outside the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.

They claim it is not just nurses who are poorly paid in hospitals.

The workers, who are members of the health union Unison, are angry at the way pay awards are given out in two stages during the year.

The union's campaign is calling for a substantial pay award for all health workers. Gina Gayle, 44, an auxiliary nurse in the maternity department delivery suite, said: "People don't realise that the NHS is crumbling away until something goes wrong.

"People come in and then they appreciate us. If people had to deliver their own babies the mortality rate would shoot up. We need to be recognised for working very hard. Sometimes we work so hard we don't even get to drink a cup of tea on a shift. Morale is very low."

Nurses and other hospital workers gathered outside the JR, the mental health unit at the Warneford Hospital and the Littlemore Hospital.

Unison spokesman Steve Akers said: "We want to argue our case publicly. We don't want any more staging of our pay awards."

"We expect the Government to listen and we want them to deliver.

"If they do not deliver they have got to be clear that there will be a response from health workers."

Dozens of nurses are due to arrive from Australia to fill vacancies at the John Radcliffe Hospital in the next few weeks.

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