Sir Rod Stewart: Singer calls for NHS wage rise as he pays for patients to have scans at mobile screening unit

Sir Rod Stewart has backed calls for NHS nurses and junior doctors to receive a pay rise as he paid for members of the public to have scans at a mobile screening unit.
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The singer said he backed calls for NHS nurses and junior doctors to receive a pay rise while warning of the potential dangers of a US-style health system in the UK. Sir Rod backed the calls for pay rises after visiting the Princess Alexandra Hospital, in Essex.

The star visited the hospital to pay for patients’ scans in an effort to cut NHS waiting lists for those in the area. Explaining why he wanted to pay for the scans, the 78 year-old said: “I had just come from my scan in a private clinic near Harley Street. I walked in and said, ‘I’m terribly sorry I’m half an hour late. They said, ‘don’t worry, there’s hardly anybody in here today’.

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“There were eight people with hardly anything to do. Then I thought this is a terrible injustice, so here we are.” The singer-songwriter also confirmed he was looking at doing a similar thing in other NHS hospitals in other parts of the country.

Speaking on Sky News, Rod Stewart added: “There must be enough money in the coffers to pay up for these nurses. Only two years ago we were clapping and now listen - they worked so hard.

“If we don’t have the NHS, it will be like the United States. When you go into an emergency room they say, ‘right, go through your documents, and it’s unbelievable in America. It doesn’t work there either, but I think it’s working better than it is here at the moment. We must pull it together.”

Sir Rod Stewart is one of the UK’s best selling artists of all time. Born in London, he has sold over 250 million records worldwide.

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