Nurses took their campaign against ward closures and job cuts at Bradford's hospitals to the streets.

About 30 health-care workers and other staff from Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke's Hospital staged a protest in Ivegate, in Bradford city centre urging people to sign a petition and lobby their MPs and hospital governors about the hospitals' controversial shake-up.

Staff have been facing an uncertain future since Brad-ford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust announced it was closing an elderly-care ward at St Luke's and axing half the beds from a BRI gynaecology ward as it tries to claw back an £11.3 million deficit.

The protest was organised by health-care union Unison as part of its "Save Our Wards - Protect Our Jobs" campaign against ward closures and the impact on patient care.

Bradford Teaching Hosp-itals' Unison senior convenor Amandeep Singh said: "The feeling among staff is who will be next for the chop?

"The staff who are directly affected at the moment just wish this whole thing would go away and that they could be left to get on with doing the jobs they love doing.

"We have had an amazing reaction from the public. They find the whole thing disgusting. Their main concerns are where the beds are going and what will happen to patients. Now the issue is in the public's mind's eye and that's where it needs to be."

Campaigners were urging shoppers to sign a petition saying it was unacceptable for the trust to close wards because of cash problems.

Shopper James Wilson, of Wyke, said: "You see adverts urging people to join the NHS for a secure future. The future can't be that secure."

The 39-year-old dad-of-two added: "It's always the people at the lower end of the financial ladder who suffer. The people who make these decisions and get paid more will be fine."

Nurses fear they will be forced to work in areas which do not suit their specialist skills. BRI staff nurse Helen Peacock said: "Wards are being closed down that are still needed. We have the same amount of patients and every ward has its speciality. I specialise in ears, nose and throat which means I am not as experienced in dealing with other areas."

Theatres staff nurse Digby Stalman said: "There is uncertainty and anxiety as regards to job security and the status of the finances at the trust. It's very demoralising. Staff are applying for jobs elsewhere - they are getting out while they can."

The finishing touches are being put to the next financial year's budgets and the next stage of the trust's recovery plan is expected to be announced next week.

A trust spokesman said: "The current re-configuration of wards is intended to improve services to patients and reduce costs.

"It is part of the modernisation of the NHS and reflects the increasingly primary-care-led services with much shorter lengths of stay and fewer patients requiring in-patient care.

"As always, the trust is working hard to avoid redundancies, and redeployment of staff is a sensible alternative.

"Staff are informed about the financial situation and recovery plan through the monthly staff-briefing system and regular meetings with staff representatives."