Ayrshire nurse asks Nicola Sturgeon to extend £500 Covid bonus to agency staff
Ayrshire agency nurse.Claire Smith, from Ayr, has written to the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to ask if the government would reconsider their stance on the £500 Covid-19 bonus not being extended to agency staff.The 38-year-old staff nurse says when the NHS became overwhelmed by coronavrius cases, it was agency staff who ‘stepped up to help’.The mum-of-two was sent oversees to British territory Gibraltar at the start of the pandemic last year, by her then employers, Newcross, to support NHS staff as they struggled with the pandemic.Claire, who worked at Saint Bernard's Hospital, Gibraltar, said: “When the NHS were under immense pressure from the Covid infection rate and staff absences, it was agency staff that stepped in.“I am naturally