Healthcare staff back plans over strike action

Hundreds of healthcare workers at two Nottingham hospitals have backed plans for strike action in a row over pay row with.

On Wednesday, healthcare assistants at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) voted for strike action, according to the UNISON union.

A total of 94% of UNISON members at Queen's Medical Centre (QMC) and City Hospital backed the strike "unless hospital managers improve an offer on back pay".

UNISON East Midlands head of health Gareth Eales said: "The majority of healthcare assistants have been working well above their salary band for years - it's time the trust did the right thing and paid them properly for that work."

A spokesperson for UNISON added: "According to NHS guidance, healthcare assistants on salary band 2 of the Agenda for Change pay scale should only be providing personal care, such as bathing and feeding patients.

"However, most of the healthcare assistants have routinely undertaken clinical tasks such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas."

Danielle Petch, chief people officer at NUH, said healthcare support workers at the trust have already been re-banded with associated increased pay to "better reflect the important clinical activities that this group carry out".

"The re-banding follows a robust process with the five unions who represent this workforce, resulting in support from four of the five. It is disappointing that agreement could not be reached with UNISON," added Ms Petch.

She added that colleagues who are part of UNISON will receive back pay to August 2021, which is "in line with a national update on job profiles for health care support workers".

"We are making the payments from April onwards and when all back pay has been paid, this is expected to total over £10m," said Ms Petch.

"Our hospitals could not run without the skill and dedication of our health care support workers, they have been and remain a hugely valued group of colleagues."

UNISON said the strike will not go ahead if NUH can negotiate a resolution by 27 March.

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