Nurse hits out at Keir Starmer in explosive Channel 4 rant: 'It's about respect!'

An NHS nurse hit out at Prime Minister Keir Starmer during an appearance on Channel 4 News on Thursday. Maxine Wade angrily implored Sir Keir to spend a day at work with her to see “what we see” and added that she would go on strike to fight for a pay rise in line with inflation and in the hopes of retracting and retaining staff.

The nurse told host Cathy Newman: “When I get paid at the end of the month, I don’t have much left after bills and sometimes I wonder whether it’s worth staying in the job, but I do because I love the patients. I get angry when I think we live in a country where there are so many millionaires and billionaires and yet nursing staff like myself struggle to make ends meet.

"It's why I've got nursing friends who have emigrated to Australia where they have decent staffing ratios and they are paid a decent wage.

“It's about respect. How can the Government say they respect us when they pay us an absolute pittance. I wish Keir Starmer could spend a day at work with me and see what we do"

It comes after a Channel 4 investigation revealed that one in three of England’s hospitals are missing at least 10 percent of their planned-for nurses across their wards. The NHS data also revealed that 20 percent of nurses were missing from one in five critical care units and one in three on neonatal wards.

Sir Keir Starmer responded to the investigation on Thursday, telling Channel 4 News: “It reinforces what I’ve long believed, which is that we inherited a broken NHS, on its knees.

“That’s why it’s so important that we pick up the challenge - including the challenge that you’ve shown visibility on today in this reporting - and rebuild the NHS, get it back on its feet.”

The Prime Minister added that his Government has gotten two million extra NHS appointments, reduced waiting lists and abolished NHS England to increase jobs on the front line.

He said: “That will help to contribute to the further hole that you’ve identified in the capacity. But we will do this with the staff and take them forward, on this journey of rebuilding with us, working with the staff, not doing it to the staff.”