A COLCHESTER nurse marched to the Prime Minister’s home in Downing Street to deliver a petition calling for a 15 per cent pay rise for NHS workers.

Holly Turner, a nurse who works at Colchester Hospital and other health facilities in Essex, hand delivered the petition directly to Number 10 on Tuesday alongside NHS workers and MPs - including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The petition, signed by 813,000 people, demands a pay increase for all NHS workers who say they were denied one last year by the Government during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Gazette: Justice - Jeremy Corbyn campaigning with Holly Turner and other NHS workers at Parliament Square. Picture: Jeremy Corbyn Justice - Jeremy Corbyn campaigning with Holly Turner and other NHS workers at Parliament Square. Picture: Jeremy Corbyn

Holly, who lives in Manningtree, said: “Our petition shows strength of feeling being a substantial pay increase for NHS workers.

“I’m sorry that many of us have to spend our annual leave and rest days fighting for patient and staff safety, but we are in crisis and find ourselves with no choice.”

Mr Corbyn, who is Islington North’s MP, told his social media followers he wanted to join the “fantastic and dedicated” NHS staff to hand the petition to Downing Street.

He added: “[I’m] proud to support a proper pay rise for NHS workers.”

Also joining Holly and her fellow NHS workers was Brighton and Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle.

He said: “After years of pay freezes and austerity it is time we level up the pay of our NHS workers.

“The pandemic has reminded us how much we truly rely on them and it is about time we showed that with a decent pay rise.”

Earlier this month more than 250 Colchester residents took to the town’s streets to demand a fair pay deal for NHS workers.

Keep Our NHS Public, Health Campaigns Together, NHS Workers Say No and NHS Staff Voices organised the day of action on July 3, to mark the 73rd birthday of the NHS.

Holly was one of the organisers of this event too.

Colchester was one of 70 places across the UK where activists took to the streets to call for a 15 per cent pay increase for NHS staff.

Yesterday evening, the Department of Health and Social Care announced NHS staff including nurses, paramedics, consultants, and dentists will receive a three per cent pay rise backdated to April, after the government accepted the recommendations of the pay review body.

The pay rise would mean an additional £1,000 per year for the average nurse.