Nottingham NHS staff announce fresh strike after ‘insulting’ pay talks, says UNISON

Hundreds of healthcare support workers at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust will strike again next week after talks to resolve a long-running pay dispute broke down, union UNISON has said.

Staff at Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital will walk out from Monday, June 9, until Saturday, June 14 — their longest strike to date.

The industrial action is part of a campaign by UNISON to secure thousands of pounds in back pay for healthcare assistants which it says have been carrying out clinical tasks ‘well above their pay grade’ for years.

Under NHS rules, healthcare support workers on band two of the Agenda for Change pay scale should be limited to personal care duties, such as feeding and washing patients. But many of these staff have been required routinely to take blood, fit cannulas and carry out electrocardiogram (ECG) tests, responsibilities that should fall under band three.

At the latest round of talks, which ended last week, hospital bosses offered the lowest-paid healthcare staff one extra day of annual leave, the union has revealed.

UNISON East Midlands regional organiser Scott Weightman said: “Healthcare assistants in Nottingham are owed thousands of pounds in back pay. These workers have spent years performing essential clinical duties for patients, going above and beyond every single day, as well as holding the hands of dying patients during the pandemic.

“Instead of giving them the money they’ve already earned, the trust has offered them one extra day off. That’s beyond inadequate and simply insulting.”

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has been approached for comment.