Hundreds of healthcare support workers at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust are to walk out again this week and next as their long-running pay dispute continues, says UNISON.
Staff at Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital are on strike today (Tuesday), followed by a further 72-hour walkout starting on Monday 19 May.
The industrial action is part of an ongoing campaign to secure back pay for healthcare assistants who have spent years performing clinical duties above their pay grade, says UNISON.
According to NHS guidance, healthcare support workers on salary band 2 of the Agenda for Change pay scale should only be providing personal care, such as bathing and feeding patients. However, most of the healthcare assistants have routinely undertaken clinical tasks such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests, and inserting cannulas, says UNISON.
UNISON East Midlands head of health Gareth Eales said: “Healthcare support workers are the backbone of the NHS. They’ve been carrying out vital clinical work well above their pay grade for years, and it’s only right they’re fairly rewarded.
“Nobody wants to see strike action, but it is high time that hospital bosses started paying all staff the right rate for the work they do.”
Notes to editors:
– Upcoming strike dates and times:
07:00 Tuesday 13 May to 06:59 Thursday 15 May (48 hours)
07:00 Monday 19 May to 06:59 Thursday 22 May (72 hours)
– Band 2 clinical support workers should only undertake personal care duties, according to NHS guidance.
– So far UNISON has won £200m for healthcare assistants and other support workers through its Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign. More information on the campaign is available here.
– UNISON is the UK’s largest union with more than 1.3 million members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
