HCAs decide to strike as national wage campaign continues

Hundreds of HCAs at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust have decided to go on strike over a dispute over pay bands and back pay, their union Unison announced on Tuesday (2 July).

“The trust has been exploiting their goodwill for years to get cheap care”

Sam Older

According to Unison, support staff working at pay level 2 on the Agenda for Change pay scale should only carry out personal care tasks, including feeding, cleaning, moving and bathing patients.

However, many of the Trust’s HCAs have been working at Level 2 for years, while also carrying out some of the tasks of a Level 3 worker, such as inserting cannulas, performing electrocardiogram (ECG) tests and taking blood samples.

The workers therefore demanded an increase in their salary classification as well as back payments for the years they spent performing these additional tasks.

The dispute is part of Unison’s nationwide Fair Pay for Patient Care campaign, which is campaigning for healthcare support workers (HCAs) to be given higher pay ratings and appropriate pay adjustments for performing certain tasks above their pay grade.

Unison said the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust had agreed to upgrade workers’ pay but its offer of backdated pay to April 2021 was not sufficient.

The company argued that paying wages retrospectively could avert strike action, as trusts elsewhere had already agreed to retrospective payments up to April 2018.

Sam Older, an organiser for Unison Eastern, said workers were fed up with being “ripped off” and called on the trust to return to the negotiating table.

Unison Eastern organizer Sam Older

“These healthcare workers are dedicated to providing exceptional care to their patients,” said Mr. Older.

“But the trust has been abusing their goodwill for years to obtain cheap care.

“They have spent months negotiating to get a fair deal, but senior managers are refusing to pay for it.”

Mr Older added that the recent breakdown in negotiations left HCAs with “no choice” but to go on strike, with 96% of local members voting in favour of the decision.

The strike dates have yet to be confirmed.

According to Unison, the move from Band 2 to 3 is worth almost £2,000 a year for more experienced HCAs.

HCAs at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust also walked off the job in June as part of Unison’s campaign; strike dates at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust have now been confirmed for later this month.

The East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust has been approached for comment.