Hospital staff strike over 'missing' Covid payment

Staff at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals said they missed out on a lump sum payment

Hospital porters, cleaners and catering staff have launched a 48-hour strike after missing out on a one-off bonus for health workers which recognised the pressure they faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The GMB union said its members at the Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen hospitals missed out on the £1,600 lump sum because they were not employed directly by the NHS on 31 March 2023.

Staff told the BBC their contracts were all transferred from a private firm on 1 April, meaning they missed out on the payment by one day.

Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs both hospitals, said the dispute was between the union members and their "previous employer".

Porter Terry Neary told BBC Radio Merseyside those affected had performed "exactly the same" roles as their NHS colleagues during the pandemic, but had officially been employed by facilities firm ISS.

"We feel undervalued," he said.

"All together here, we've worked right through Covid, seen things we should never have seen [and] at times, no PPE for us.

"We've joined from ISS to the NHS, which is saying we're all under the same umbrella, we're all one family.

"We're definitely not all one family, I don't feel anyway."

The workers said they put themselves at risk throughout the Covid-19 pandemic

Fellow porter Karen O'Hare said some office-based staff had received the award despite not having regular face-to-face contact with patients.

"We were enclosed in lifts, taking patients up to wards, transferring them everywhere," she said.

"We were directly with patients and yet it's just like we're not even good enough to have the money."

GMB senior organiser Kerry Nash said some members were considering leaving their jobs as a result of what had happened.

"They do the same work as many who have received the payment," she said.

"The only difference is a name on their uniform or payslip.

"Their work is vital to the safe running of our hospitals [and] the least they deserve is fair treatment."

A trust representative said it had "followed national guidelines for non-consolidated pay awards".

They added that the trust's "estates and facilities team has business continuity plans in place to ensure the safe delivery of care and people should attend their hospital appointments as planned".

ISS have been approached for comment.