PROTESTERS gathered at Brighton Station at the weekend to demand an end to the NHS crisis.

Health workers and union members spoke at a send-off rally at 9am on Saturday before joining Sussex Defend The NHS members on the 9.58am train to London.

A 40-strong crowd gathered outside the station, giving out leaflets and placards emblazoned with slogans such as “Hands off our NHS”, “Stop the Tories” and “For the many, not the few”.

Members of the group then spoke about their campaign to passersby over loudspeakers.

Nick McMaster, from public services trade union Unison Sussex Partnership, said: “I have a friend who goes into work crying every day because she knows her staff have a caseload of 100 patients to get through.

“The truth is that there are more staff leaving the NHS than joining it –it’s not right that our nurses are on the breadline and having to go to food banks and shelters.”

John Donovan, who works at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, said: “The Tories want to break apart the NHS and privatise it.

“Let’s fight to save the greatest public service the world has ever seen – for us and for our children.”

The group later joined thousands from across the country in a march in the capital.

Sussex Defend The NHS says patients have been dying while waiting for ambulances and people are being treated in corridors.

Eighty four per cent of GPs say safe care of patients is at risk due to overwhelming workloads, according to the group.

It says the NHS is undergoing “a crisis manufactured by the Government”.

Steve Guy, of Sussex Defend The NHS, said: “We know the public is behind our fight for the NHS.

“They want to see it properly funded.

“They want to see an NHS true to its founding principles – for everyone according to their need.”

Sussex Defend The NHS challenged Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt during a trip to Brighton last week.

As he visited the Royal Sussex County Hospital, the group called for him to fund the service properly.

The group hopes the NHS In Crisis: Fix it Now! march will prompt the Government to take note and reconsider cuts and closures.