Hartlepool NHS staff announce three more days of strike action in UNISON pay campaign

Healthcare assistants across the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts are going to be striking from Monday, April 8, until Thursday, April 11.

This is the second period of strikes following a 24-hour walkout in March which saw hundreds of healthcare assistants leave their posts across seven sites operated by both trusts.

NHS guidance states healthcare assistants on salary band 2 should only be providing personal care, such as bathing and feeding patients. 

However, UNISON claims most of the healthcare assistants have routinely undertaken clinical tasks that would normally be done by those on band 3, such as taking blood and inserting cannulas.

UNISON and the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundations Trusts are currently in negotiations but have not come to an agreement.

UNISON northern regional secretary, Clare Williams, said: “Teesside healthcare assistants are increasingly frustrated at their trust’s unwillingness to do the right thing.

“Both employers’ refusal to negotiate is only making workers more determined to carry on their fight for fair pay.”

She continued: “They feel disrespected and unvalued.

"The community, patients and colleagues have been overwhelmingly supportive.

“The strikes won’t stop until justice is done.

"Staff are becoming increasingly determined the trusts must do the right thing or they could permanently damage their relationship with their own work forces."

A spokesperson for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust said: "We recognise and appreciate the huge contribution that healthcare assistants make to our patients.

“Since the elements of these roles were clarified nationally, we have been working closely with trade union colleagues to move our healthcare assistants to these grades where applicable.

"Our trusts support this move and the benefits to our health care assistance workforce and therefore have committed to back pay dating back to July 2021 – the date the national job profile for the clinical support worker role changed.

“During the strike action, we will once again be prioritising urgent and emergency care to protect patient safety and ensure those in life-threatening emergencies can receive the best possible care.”