ANGRY midwives walked out of Dovercourt’s Fryatt Hospital for four hours as part of a dispute over pay.
NHS staff want a one per cent pay rise for all employees, but the Government says it will cost too much.
Royal College of Midwives union members formed a picket line outside the hospital, in Main Road, at 7am on Monday.
About 400,000 union members across the country also went on strike.
Emma Sarson, midwife and union rep, said morale was already low at the hospital. She said: “All we want is a below-inflation one per cent pay rise.”
Labour councillors Ivan Henderson and Garry Calver joined midwives on the picket line (above).
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Government was prepared to talk to unions. He said: “I recognise front-line staff do a magnificent job in the NHS.
“We’re recruiting nurses like crazy at the moment and to put that in reverse would not be the right move at the moment.
“The most important thing here is doing the right thing for patients.”
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