HOSPITAL nurses who are campaigning for extra pay are furious that agency staff are being brought in to clear a surgery backlog — and are being paid twice as much.

From Monday, six agency staff a day have been working at Fairfield's surgical theatres, with each one being paid £300 a day.

The nurses are being supplied by the Your World agency.

One Fairfield nurse, who asked not to be identified, said: “This is a slap in the face. We have not had a pay rise for five years and we are expected to work alongside agency nurses who are on double what we are on.

“We are not understaffed. They are putting on extra theatre slots and are bringing in agency staff to clear the backlog. They are doing the same sort of work as us but they are on double the money. We are disgusted and morale has gone right down."

The nurse added: "We are fighting for extra pay. We have marched in London and have another one on October 4. They could open on Saturdays and Sundays and offer staff the chance to do overtime but they have brought in the agency. Nobody can believe it."

Kimberley Salmon-Jamieson, deputy chief nurse at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Fairfield, said: “The Trust has commissioned an external service — comprising of doctors and nurses — to support us in meeting the growing demand for endoscopy that help us provide diagnostic services for people referred for urgent and routine investigations. We are putting patients first and patient safety, including early diagnosis and intervention is a key factor.

“Sometimes we have to recruit temporary agency doctors and nurses for short periods of time to support the work of our full-time permanent medical and nursing staff to ensure we continue to provide the highest standards of care for our patients that is possible.

“In line with other NHS organisations, and to further support our recruitment, we have embarked on local, national and international campaigns to recruit doctors and nurses to our hospitals that share our values from home and abroad; we have recently successfully recruited 10 qualified and experienced nurses from Spain who will be joining our medical nursing teams at Fairfield General Hospital.

“All our staff are committed to providing the very highest standards of patient care across our hospitals and community services.”