Striking Teesside healthcare assistants say they're struggling
Hundreds are taking industrial action outside various hospitals
We are hearing from healthcare assistants on Teesside who are out on strike in an on-going row over pay.
Hundreds are taking industrial action outside seven sites at North Tees and Hartlepool and South Tees NHS Trusts.
Staff have been campaigning to move to a wage band in the NHS Agenda for Change pay scale that more accurately reflects the work they have been doing and secure a fair back pay settlement.
It is the third time in three months they have walked out.
UNISON say they have repeatedly asked the Trusts to negotiate a resolution to the dispute. But the employers have so far refused to do so, leaving some of the lowest paid workers in the NHS little choice but to continue their action.
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 most of the healthcare assistants have routinely undertaken clinical tasks normally done by those on band 3, such as taking blood, performing electrocardiogram tests and inserting cannulas.
Michelle Cook, a healthcare assistant at trauma outpatients at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, said: "I'm just absolutely devastated that it's come to this. It needs to stop now because it's just getting beyond a joke.
"We've got colleagues struggling without us in departments, we've got patients that aren't getting the correct care because we've got colleagues that are doing our shifts that don't usually do our shifts. It's not fair on the colleagues and it's not fair on the patients.
"I'm tired now. It's exhausting and it's not a nice place to be at the moment listening to colleagues struggling. It's causing a divide with everybody and it shouldn't be happening. We should be all back to work and doing what we're paid to do.
"I've been struggling because I have to do extra hours on top of my normal hours just to pay the bills at the end of the month. At the end of the day, my wage isn't costing the same as the bills that are going out.
"The support's been amazing by members of the public. We've had people stopping and talking to us, saying they support us and taking photos with us. They've been really lovely."
Miles-Elliot Schneider, UNISON organiser, said: "They've undertaken years of unpaid clinical work in these hospitals. They've kept the hospitals running and the Trusts are just quite simply refusing to negotiate to recognise that work.
"The offer that's on the table, our members have overwhelmingly rejected in a ballot. It was only going back around two years and some of the healthcare workers on this picket line have been undertaking these clinical duties for over a decade, some of them approaching 20 years or more.
"We know from experience other Trusts in other parts of the country have been in similar disputes with their own healthcare assistants, they've insisted they weren't going to negotiate and after industrial action, they decided to negotiate and they've come to an agreement and have moved forward together."
UNISON Northern regional secretary Clare Williams said: “Once again staff are being been forced into this unavoidable strike action because the trust won’t negotiate, this time for five days.
“Put simply, hundreds of low-paid workers across Teesside, mainly women, are being denied money they’re owed. The trusts have saved a fortune through their failure to reward workers properly and their goodwill has worn thin. Staff feel hurt that their employers have little interest settling this dispute.
“The healthcare assistants are not backing down and they’re determined to get what they deserve. Both trusts need to do what's right to avoid permanent damage to the relationship with their workforce.”
A spokesperson for North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "The role healthcare assistants play on our wards and in the community is much valued by our colleagues and patients.
“We have worked closely with trade union colleagues to move our healthcare assistants to the higher grades where applicable in line with the national profile and have committed to back pay dating back to July 2021.
“Patients are asked to attend any appointments as usual, unless we contact them to reschedule.
“Urgent and emergency care will be prioritised to ensure those in life-threatening emergencies can receive the best possible care. People can help us to keep A&E free to treat the most serious conditions by accessing help from NHS 111 online for non-life-threatening medical issues.”