John Radcliffe Hospital porters dispute talks to resume

Porters are unhappy with plans to change shift patterns and merge roles

Talks are to resume over a row about changes to porters' shift patterns at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

A planned 48-hour strike was postponed on 20 July, the day before porters were due to walk out.

Oxfordshire Unison Health Branch and the porters' employer Carillion said further talks would now take place on Friday.

The union said it hoped the discussions would result in "a mutually acceptable outcome for both parties".

Unison had said some porters could lose up to £54 a week if their hours were altered, and union members had voted in favour of industrial action.

Carillion, which runs the porter service for Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, had welcomed the move not to strike as a "positive development".