Striking NHS staff from Nottingham have taken their fight for fair pay to Parliament this week, calling on MPs to intervene to help end a long-running row over back pay, says UNISON today (Thursday).
Healthcare support workers are owed thousands of pounds after being made to carry out clinical duties way above their pay grade for years, without proper pay or recognition.
They began their seventh period of strike action this week, walking out on Monday and continuing until Saturday.
A group of employees visited Westminster on Wednesday to speak directly to Nottingham MPs Alex Norris, Lilian Greenwood, and Nadia Whittome about the dispute and asking them to step in.
Under NHS rules, healthcare support workers on band 2 of the Agenda for Change pay scale should be limited to personal care duties, such as feeding and washing patients. But many of these staff have been required routinely to take blood, fit cannulas and carry out electrocardiogram (ECG) tests, responsibilities that should fall under band 3.
UNISON East Midlands regional secretary Chris Jenkinson said: “These workers provide essential services that keep the health services running.
“They’ve been forced to take on extra duties and should be paid accordingly. The trust could stop these strikes tomorrow by giving staff the back pay they’re due.”
Healthcare support worker Sarah said: “It means everything to tell MPs directly what’s really going on. We looked after patients throughout the pandemic, taking on extra clinical work without moaning.
“But we’ve waited far too long to be paid properly for the more complex duties we’ve been given.
“We don’t want to strike, we want to be on the wards, caring for patients. The trust needs to stop dragging this out and pay up.”
Notes to editors:
– More than 900 healthcare support staff across Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust are currently taking part in strike action. Staff at Quen’s Medical Centre and City Hospitals have so far taken 17 days of industrial action.
– 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.
