WINCHESTER'S MP is calling for an urgent pay review for low-paid NHS workers.

Dr Danny Chambers has highlighted the issue in a letter to the health secretary Wes Streeting.

The MP has highlighted that lowest paid staff members, some of who are paid not much more than the minimum wage, were due a pay rise in April. Some of these staff are working full time and yet still need to rely on foodbanks to feed their families.

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In the letter, he said: “Unless the Agenda for Change pay rates are agreed before the parliamentary recess on July 30, they may not receive this pay rise until October or November. I urge you to progress this matter rapidly to ensure our hard-working NHS staff are not burdened with financial worries during this cost-of-living crisis over the summer and autumn months.

"Future pay reviews should be concluded prior to the beginning of the financial year so that those on the lowest pay bands do not have to wait months to receive what is owed to them.”

Dr Chambers ran on a platform of improving local NHS services and protecting Winchester’s A&E services and consultant-led maternity unit in light of proposals to move downgradse services when a new hospital opens in Basingstoke.