Colchester Hospital staff vote 'overwhelmingly' to strike in row over pay and working conditions

Essex hospital workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a row over pay, a union has announced. More than 300 staff at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) have voted to strike after years of not being paid the full rate for the job, says UNISON.

The trust runs Colchester General Hospital and Ipswich Hospital and various community care sites around the north of Essex. UNISON said 96 per cent of clinical support staff backed strike action in a formal ballot. The workers carry out essential clinical tasks alongside their nursing colleagues.

UNISON said the staff have been employed on band two of the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale, which means they should only undertake personal care tasks such as bathing or feeding patients. But the unions said workers regularly undertake clinical tasks like inserting cannulas, carrying out electrocardiogram (ECG) tests or taking bloods, which should be paid at band three.

Read more: The 'disgraceful' Essex road that's 'like a car park' due to severe congestion

Read more: Essex County Council decide on preferred route for new and improved A120 between Braintree and A12

The trust has moved the workers to the higher band — worth nearly £2,000 a year more for experienced staff. But it has refused to compensate them properly for the years spent working above their pay grade, says the union.

In similar banding disputes elsewhere, trusts have agreed to recognise employees’ extra work as far back as August 2018, but the trust is only offering workers back pay to April 2021. But UNISON says workers are keen to avoid industrial action and has written to senior managers at the trust urging them back to the negotiating table to discuss an improved offer.

In a separate dispute at the trust, hundreds of cleaners, caterers, porters and security guards are currently voting on strikes over plans to move facilities services out of the NHS. UNISON Eastern regional organiser Sam Older said: “These healthcare support workers are dedicated to providing exceptional care to their patients. But the trust has been exploiting their goodwill for years to get care on the cheap.

“Staff are fed up of being shortchanged. They’ve tried to get a fair deal through months of negotiations, yet senior managers are refusing to put their hands in their pockets. They're left with no choice but to take industrial action. The trust can still stop this by coming back to the table and making an offer that gives staff the recognition and respect they deserve.”