Ananova:

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt was unable to finish her speech as nurses drowned out her comments with shouts of "enough" and "resign".

Ms Hewitt was heckled and jeered at the Royal College of Nursing's (RCN) annual conference as she tried to speak about progress in the NHS.

She told delegates that she understood staff were concerned about losing their jobs, adding: "I know that you're angry about the possibility of redundancies among some hospital staff.

"Anybody facing the prospect of redundancy is entitled to feel that."

But her comments were met with boos and hissing and loud laughter when she tried to explain that most of the NHS was not in deficit.

As the sounds of dissent grew and slow hand clapping began, Ms Hewitt said: "We can listen to each other or not - it's entirely up to you. I would like to listen to you and I would like you to listen to me."

After receiving a frosty reception at the Unison conference in Gateshead on Monday, this was her second major speech in a week.

In Bournemouth, she faced about 2,000 nurses dressed in T-shirts with the slogan "Keep Nurses Working, Keep Patients Safe".

She said: "We all have to be honest and realistic about the challenges we face and the tough decisions we have to make."

She said the majority of NHS organisations were in balance or surplus, with the overall deficit in the NHS just 1% of the total budget, and added that the overspending "cannot be allowed to go on".