Protest at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough over pay
UNISON will be there
Hundreds of healthcare assistants at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough will be holding a rally today over fair pay.
It starts at 1.30pm until 2pm at the south entrance.
UNISON says the staff employed by South Tees NHS Trust say they have been underpaid for their work.
According to NHS guidance, healthcare assistants on salary band 2 should only be providing personal care such as bathing and feeding patients
However, UNISON says the support staff are routinely undertaking clinical tasks, such as taking and monitoring blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas.
The NHS guidance says staff performing these more complex duties should be on salary band 3, which is nearly £2,000 a year more.
UNISON is calling for the health workers to be moved to the higher grade and to receive back pay going back to 2019, depending on how long they have worked at the hospital.
UNISON Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “It is time South Tees NHS Trust followed others’ lead and paid their healthcare assistants fairly.
“Staff are not prepared to have their hard work undervalued. If the trust continues to refuse to pay them properly then the health workers will be left with little option but to consider strike action.
“Managers should do the right thing and avoid risking needless disruption for patients.”
Rachael Metcalf, South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's director of human resources, said: "We recognise and appreciate the huge contribution that healthcare assistants make to our patients.
"Since national changes to the NHS salary band for these important and valued roles, we have been working closely with our local trades union colleagues and have accepted in full their proposal to move relevant colleagues to a higher grade, including back-pay arrangements where these apply."