A fracas erupted between protesters and contractor staff at a demonstration against “poverty pay” at Watford General Hospital.    

The incident occurred near the hospital restaurant area shortly before the start of the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s annual general meeting on Thursday, September 21.

Protestors from trade union GMB were opposing the minimum wage paid to support staff at the hospital by multinational facilities provider Medirest when they say they were accosted by the contractor’s staff.

During the altercation, which was caught on camera, one protestor sustained a small cut to his hand while a second man was pushed but not injured.

Community police officers were eventually called in to quell the disturbance.

Michael Dooley, GMB’s local representative who organised the protest, said around eight people – mainly retired trade unionists – were “happily” handing out leaflets when a Medirest manager appeared with another manager and “unceremoniously” dumped their flags and placards outside in the rain.

“When a recording of this aggressive outburst was attempted, the same manager forcibly obstructed and grabbed the camera and a loud fracas broke out before the community police arrived to regain order,” he said.

“I have never witnessed anything like this before. If Medirest can behave like this with trade union officers, what can they be like with employees?

“We are sorry that the meeting was disrupted in this way but everything was fine until the Medirest outburst.”

A Medirest spokesperson said: “We have been informed of an incident which took place at Watford Hospital last week. As this is currently being investigated it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

In a statement, West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We are aware there was an altercation between GMB representatives and Medirest staff and we understand that both parties have made official complaints to the police.

“We take any allegations of assault or violence at our hospitals very seriously and we await the outcome of the police investigation.”

Anyone with information about what happened is asked to contact police on the non-emergency number 101.