Staff at Doncaster secure hospital to strike in row about back pay
Workers at Cheswold Park are demand pay dating back to October 2024
Last updated 16th Dec 2025
Staff at Cheswold Park secure mental hospital in Doncaster are set to strike later this week over unpaid backdated wages following their transfer to NHS contracts.
The hospital’s 120 workers were originally employed by private health provider Riverside, but they transferred to NHS employment under South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in October 2024.
According to Unite, the UK’s leading union, the trust delayed providing NHS contracts for over a year and is now refusing to backdate pay and terms to the original transfer date.
In response, workers, including those in medical and non-medical roles, will take strike action on 18th, 19th, 25th, 26th, and 31st December 2025, along with 1st January 2026.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Months of campaigning by Unite secured these workers NHS contracts that the trust did not want to give them. However, it is now refusing to backdate pay they are fully entitled to."
“Cheswold Park’s workforce has Unite’s full backing in taking strike action."
Unite regional officer Chris Rawlinson said: “Our members do not want to strike but have been forced to because of the terrible way they have been treated by the trust"
"First it had to be dragged kicking and screaming to give them proper contracts. Now it is trying to pretend they only started working for the NHS last month."
“There is still time to avoid strike action, but that will require the trust putting forward an acceptable offer,” he said.
South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust said: “When the Trust took over the ownership and management of Cheswold Park Hospital in October 2024, we did so to avoid its closure."
"The hospital was in major financial difficulty and had recently been rated as inadequate by the CQC.
"Our main priority was to ensure that patients were fully supported and that staff could keep their jobs and remain employed at the hospital.
"We have worked hard to improve the quality of care provided to patients whilst returning Cheswold Park to a stable financial position.
"Whilst we are not legally obliged to transfer staff at Cheswold Park onto Agenda for Change (AFC) terms and conditions, we committed to do so in 2027.
"Due to our effective financial stewardship and significant improvement in quality at the hospital, we have been able to offer staff the option to transfer to AfC terms and conditions from 1st November 2025, which is much earlier than we planned.
"We are very disappointed that despite stabilising the hospital, improving the quality of the services and progressing towards financial stability, as well as bringing forward the introduction of AfC terms and conditions, that a number of non-medical staff have decided to take industrial action.
"This is particularly concerning as they have chosen to do this at the same time as the resident doctors’ latest strikes across England.
"Our priority during the industrial action will be to minimise disruption for our patients and maintaining our high levels of safety. We will continue to provide support to everyone who needs it and ensure that care and treatment continues to be delivered as close to normal as possible.”