Colchester and Ipswich hospitals privatising jobs, trust confirms

Hospital trust chief Nick Hulme said privatisation of some services was the "best" option

A hospital trust has told hundreds of cleaners, porters and caterers their jobs will be moved out of the NHS.

The move will impact those working at hospitals in Ipswich, Colchester, Clacton and Harwich.

Caroline Hennessy, from public service union Unison, said staff were being "thrown to the wolves".

East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) chief Nick Hulme said privatisation of the services was the "best" option.

Mr Hulme wrote to staff to say the trust would move to privatise housekeeping, security and other services related to the hospitals and community services.

The East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust runs hospitals in Colchester, Ipswich, Clacton-on-Sea and Harwich

Colchester Hospital's services are in-house but Ipswich's have been outsourced to private company OCS until April 2025.

The OCS contract will end in April 2025 and the ESNEFT board decided to put all services out to a single tender from the contract's conclusion.

But Unison warned further outsourcing would hit the quality of services and create a two-tier workforce, with new hires "paid less and subject to worse conditions than their NHS colleagues".

'Thrown to the wolves'

"Staff are up in arms after this bombshell has been dropped on them," said Ms Hennessy, Unison Eastern head of health.

"Workers are being thrown to the wolves so that some private company can milk some cash out of the health service.

"This isn't about improving quality, it's about saving a few quid. Nick Hulme and the board are in for a shock if they think staff will take this attack lying down."

Many services at Ipswich Hospital have already been outsourced to private company OCS until April 2025

Mr Hulme said staff were consulted on the decision to privatise the services, with the final decision made on Thursday.

"This decision has not, in any way, been based on the performance of our teams, who we value so highly," he said.

"There are many factors that helped us to reach this decision and we firmly believe that this option will be best for our patients and the trust."

The hospital chief added that staff working in the affected services would be protected through employment law during any transfer.