‘Underpaid’ NHS hospital workers to go on strike

Staff at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage are among those planning to strike over a pay grade dispute

NHS support staff will go on a series of strikes over claims they have been "short-changed for years".

The union, Unison, said healthcare support workers at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Foundation Trust will stage two three-day strikes from Wednesday 6 November.

The trust runs the Lister, Hertford County, and new QEII hospitals and said it had made "a fair offer to our much-valued clinical support workers", which had been accepted by "a significant number" of them.

Unison wants the trust to backdate a change in the rate of pay to "properly compensate" staff for carrying out higher-level tasks.

The union said more than 200 clinical support workers had been paid at "band 2" rates despite carrying out "band 3" tasks – such as blood monitoring, ECGs and patient observations.

The lower band meant being paid around £2,000 a year less, it claimed.

Katie, a clinical support worker at Lister Hospital, said: "We’re the lowest paid in the NHS, earning just above minimum wage.

"I love my job and the patients, but I’ll be striking for the pay and conditions we’re rightfully owed in unity with fellow clinical support worker colleagues old and new."

The union said the trust had agreed to regrade the affected workers, but only with a backdated change in pay rate to January 2023 and a lump sum for length of service.

"This would leave some staff thousands of pounds worse off than workers in other trusts where similar rebanding disputes have resulted in employers agreeing to backdate the upgrade over several years," Unison said.

The union insisted that it was trying to avoid industrial action and has been in talks with the trust, but "no agreement has been reached".

Unison eastern regional organiser, Cathrine Ward, said: "These healthcare support staff are essential to the running of the NHS. But for years their bosses have been taking advantage of them, getting clinical care on the cheap."

A spokesperson for East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust said: "The Trust has worked hard through negotiation with our local union representatives to establish a fair offer to our much-valued clinical support workers.

"The Trust offer is in line with, or more favourable than, other healthcare organisations in the region, where the same offer has been accepted.

"Our offer has already been accepted by and paid to a significant number of our staff.

"It is disappointing that industrial action has been called, especially as we are currently in a mediation process with Unison through ACAS."