MORE than 1,200 people have signed a student nurse’s petition calling for politicians to commit to protecting the National Health Service.

Beth Byrom, aged 23, is studying mental health nursing at Salford University and was inspired to campaign for the NHS after witnessing the strains the service is going through while on placements.

Her petition forms part of a national campaign by the 38 degrees organisation and was presented to the four candidates standing in the Bolton South East constituency — where the Royal Bolton Hospital is based.

Ms Byrom, who lives in Bolton town centre, said: “I have been on a number of placements and the stress that is being put on the health service is very visible.

“One of the services I did a placement with doesn’t even exist anymore after it was privatised.

“The way I look at it is, the NHS has always been there for me when I have needed it and so now it is my turn to try and protect it.”

She said she was presenting the petition to the election candidates with a simple message, adding: “They need to do everything they can to protect the NHS — cutting up services is really harming patient care.”

Accepting the petition were Bolton South East candidates including Labour’s Yasmin Qureshi, Conservative Mudasir Dean, Green party candidate Alan Johnson and UKIP’s Jeff Armstrong.

They were joined on the town hall steps by other political figures and supporters of the campaign.

Ms Quereshi said: “It has been an honour to have had the Royal Bolton Hospital in the constituency that I represented for the past five years and I have always campaigned for it.

“Labour will tax the richest to provide for the NHS and I am very proud to once again be on the ticket for the party.”

Cllr Dean, who also represents Bradshaw on Bolton Council, said: “The Conservatives have shown we support the NHS with the level of funding we have put into it since 2010.

“I don’t think the health service should be a party political thing and if elected I will push for an agreement to form a commission that looks at the challenges for the service over the next 20-30 years.”

Mr Armstrong said: “UKIP’s policy is to invest an initial £3 billion a year into the NHS.

“I think it has become a victim of its own success as it is now a bit of an international health service — we need to stop health tourism.”

Mr Johnson added: “I have always been committed to a fully public, properly funded NHS — free from privatisation and free at the point of use.

“I strongly believe in the concept of the NHS and I don’t like the way it has been treated by previous governments.”

Also standing in Bolton South East is Darren Reynolds of the Liberal Democrats.