NHS workers in Belfast are being offered foodbank vouchers, with many at breaking point as they struggle to cope with rising prices and poverty pay.

Public-sector union Unison revealed yesterday that its shop stewards were handing out vouchers to staff at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in West Belfast and Ulster Hospital in the east of the city who are “struggling to put food on the table.”

Unison RVH branch secretary Conor McCarthy branded the British government’s austerity measures “a virus that is destroying our communities and workplaces.”

He explained that the union was speaking to workers in both hospitals to try and break the stigma associated with foodbanks and described the situation faced by many low-paid staff as desperate.

“I’ve seen people coming to me wanting to reduce their hours so their kids can qualify for free school dinners, that’s how desperate people are, he said, adding: “We’re saying to people, though, that it’s not their fault they need to use a foodbank.”

Staff have already experienced a “pay fiasco” after the Business Services Organisation (BSO), which processes wages, left some workers shortchanged by as much as £1,000 last month.

And in a much criticised pay deal agreed this summer, workers received a below-inflation award — effectively a pay cut — after years of public-sector pay restraint.

With numbers of Unison members seeking medical support, Mr McCarthy warned of the impact of low pay on the mental health of workers.

“48 per cent of children in West Belfast live below the poverty line and while our political parties all pretend they have the answer for Brexit, our members are more concerned about breakfast,” he said.