The healthcare assistant, who didn’t wish to be named, has spoken out ahead of a day of planned protests across the country on Saturday, with nurses and NHS workers coming together to demand a pay rise.

She has a job in a major hospital which mostly involves supporting patients with challenging behaviour, including one-to-one care for those with dementia, psychosis and learning disabilities.

The essential worker, who is on a zero hours contract, also worked on coronavirus wards, earning around £9 an hour for a day shift, which can be up to 12 hours long, and between £13 and £16 an hour for night and weekend shifts.

Her long hours and the risk of facing challenging behaviour and possible infection are a major part of why she and many others have decided to take action to call on the Government to award a 15% pay rise for NHS staff.

The risks were underlined today with the news that a nurse who spent 30 years working for the NHS has died after contracting coronavirus.

Wilbald Tesha, who worked as a mental health nurse in Eastbourne, is the 196th frontline healthcare worker to die since the start of the pandemic.

The day of national action over pay has been disrupted because of the recent rise in infections and several planned events have been cancelled but others have still pledged to go ahead.

The anonymous worker said: ‘My job is hard work not only because of the long hours but because when you’re in PPE it’s sweaty, it’s hot and it can be difficult to breathe.

‘I usually work one-to-one with patients who have a range of conditions but I wanted to do my bit during the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Some of the covid patients would be in side rooms on their own but most of them would be in a bay of four to six beds. So you put on all your PPE, you get very hot and you go to help the doctors and nurses.

‘When you come out of the bays, you have to remove your PPE. If someone wants a cup of tea you have to do it all over again.

‘Similar with cleaners and catering stuff, healthcare assistants were on the frontline with patients.’

The woman said she believes she herself caught coronavirus early in the pandemic but it was never confirmed because she couldn’t get a test.

She said: ‘At the start of the crisis the full PPE we have now wasn’t readily available and I became ill, I had all the symptoms for Covid-19 but I wasn’t tested.

‘At the time, it wasn’t available on site, though it is now. I was off work with a cough, severe fever, diarrhoea and really bad sneezing.

‘I had a test in July through the trust I worked for and it came back negative. But I have suffered memory loss, which is a symptom of the condition.

‘We risked our lives on the front line of the pandemic but I would still rather do a caring job than anything else in life.’

The healthcare assistant makes between around £1,200 and £1,300 a month, paying £400 rent on a housing association property in the Midlands, which leaves her with just enough to cover food and household bills.

She said: ‘I’ve not been on holiday for years and I have an adult son to support who is a student but I don’t get any tax credits or help from the state whatsoever.

‘Everything goes out by direct debit at the start of every month and I’m left with whatever’s left.

‘I stock up on non-perishables, laundry powder, washing up liquid, shampoo, soap and lots of frozen food and tinned food. The extra bit is usually just fresh fruit and veg. The difficult thing is to get enough fresh food in. A lot of us just live out of our freezers.’

The worker has joined thousands of NHS staff and supporters who have taken part in the ongoing ‘NHS Pay 15’ protests after being left out of a public sector pay rise announced in July.

The 3.1% hike was awarded to nearly 900,000 public sector workers due to their ‘vital contribution’ amid the pandemic, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said.

The increase included doctors, dentists and teachers, but not nurses, junior doctors and healthcare assistants.

A separate, three-year deal was agreed with nurses and healthcare assistants in 2018, and a four-year deal was agreed with junior doctors last year.

For nurses, the agreement has seen the average worker’s pay increase by 4.4% this year. The deal is due to end in April 2021, but unions have requested the Government bring this forward as a thank you to the workers for their contribution during the pandemic.

The worker said: ‘We didn’t shirk our responsibilities, we did everything that was expected of us.

‘Some of my colleagues began drinking and were very stressed out with the situation.

‘It was very stressful. I am on my own with my son and if anything had happened to me, I don’t know what would have happened to him.

‘But I did my job, I cared for people one-to-one and for several people at time in the bays.

‘They public clapped for us outside the hospital but then the Government slapped us by refusing to give us a pay rise, despite praising the effort we put in during the pandemic.

‘A meaningful gesture would be to give us a pay rise, not only for us, but to make sure the wards are fully staffed. A pay rise would help the NHS to recruit more staff, and that would help everyone out, the trusts, patients, relatives and the workers.’

The protests have been scheduled two days before Government restrictions come into force banning gatherings of more than six people.

Organisers in Brighton told supporters on Facebook today that they still plan to proceed, saying they had carried out a ‘robust risk assessment’.

Demonstrators were told to bring masks, observe social distancing and to use hand sanitising gels provided at the event.