UNISON’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign continues across the country, with new strikes in Leicestershire, strikes continuing in Teesside, and the threat of strikes in Surrey.
Hundreds of healthcare assistants at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (Leicester General Hospital, Glenfield Hospital, and Leicester Royal Infirmary) began strike action 11 April in a dispute over pay and re-banding of staff. The Leicester strikes will cover a total of 10 days in April and May and vary from 24 to 72 hours.
Healthcare assistants at hospitals run by North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have just ended a 72-hour strike that began on 8 April. This is the second strike, the previous one was in November 2023.
Strike action could spread further south as HSJ reports that NHS organisations across Surrey are to review healthcare assistants’ pay in the face of potential strike action at one trust. More than 500 HCAs at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare Trust are taking part in a consultative ballot on strike action, while negotiations continue between Unison and the provider.
The strikes are a further expansion of UNISON’s campaign for fair pay for support workers, which began in the North West some time ago.
Full story in The Lowdown, 17 April 2024