Hundreds of healthcare workers in Hertfordshire have backed strike action in a row over pay, the union UNISON has announced today (October 14).

More than 200 healthcare support staff employed by the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust at Lister Hospital in Stevenage, the New QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City and Hertford County Hospital have voted 97 per cent in favour of action, UNISON has confirmed.

According to NHS guidance, healthcare assistants on salary Band 2 of the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale should only be providing personal care, such as bathing and feeding patients.

However, a spokesperson for UNISON said: "Most of the staff have routinely undertaken clinical tasks alongside nurses and midwives that would normally be done by people on the higher Band 3. This includes taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas." 

The NHS trust has agreed to regrade the affected workers, and compensate them for the time they have been paid less than they should have been, the union says.

However, staff say this offer still leaves them thousands of pounds out of pocket, and will see them getting less than healthcare assistants who have been re-banded in other NHS trusts.

The union says that, in similar banding disputes elsewhere, trusts have agreed to recognise employees’ extra work over several years, but the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust is only offering its staff back pay to January 2023, along with a lump sum based on their length of service.

UNISON says the workers are keen to avoid industrial action, and the union has written to senior managers at the NHS trust, urging them back to the negotiating table to discuss an improved offer.

Caroline Hennessy, UNISON Eastern head of health, said: "These health staff are proud of the amazing care they provide to patients, but the trust has been exploiting their goodwill for years.

"Workers are fed up of providing care on the cheap. The union has tried talking to the trust to get a fair deal, but senior managers are refusing to deliver. That leaves a walkout as the only option left to staff.

"The trust can put a stop to this by coming back to the negotiating table and making an offer that recognises the vital role clinical and maternity support workers play in delivering quality care."

In response, a spokesperson for the East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust said: "We have a huge appreciation for all the work our healthcare support workers do for our patients, and we respect their right to take industrial action.

"We have followed national and regional guidance from NHS England to best ensure that these staff members are sufficiently compensated for any additional work they have taken on.

"We have also worked closely with integrated care board colleagues and system partners, and it is our understanding that our offer to UNISON is in line with other healthcare organisations in the region.

"We are working with UNISON and have engaged ACAS in an effort to come to an agreement that satisfies everyone, as well as manage operations at our trust should any periods of industrial action take place."