Essex and Suffolk NHS strikers tell public they’ve ‘no choice’ but to strike

Hospital support staff from across Essex and Suffolk have written an open letter to the public today explaining that they have “no choice” but to strike to stop their jobs being sold out of the NHS, says their union UNISON.

Cleaners, porters, caterers and other non-clinical support workers at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) begin five days of strikes tomorrow to stop the outsourcing of soft facilities management services.

A week-long strike last month seriously affected services at Colchester Hospital, where the majority of the threatened jobs are based, and several ESNEFT community sites, says UNISON.

In the letter, workers explain the strikes are “not about pay” but about protecting patients.

It reads: “Private contractors’ main aim is to make a profit. They’ll come after staff wages, sick pay and holidays, and also cut corners on cleaning, food standards and anything else they’re responsible for.”

Strikers also take aim at senior managers at the trust who’ve described the NHS as “too compassionate” towards staff in a leaked document that attempts to justify the outsourcing.

The letter continues: “We’re proud to be the ones who hold your hand when you’ve got no-one else, offer you a cup of tea in your darkest moments or have a chat to keep your spirits up. But the trust thinks this makes us ‘too compassionate’ and that we’d be better separated out and unable to work as a team with our clinical colleagues.”

The workers conclude: “We’re sorry for the disruption but ESNEFT has left us with no choice. We have to do this: for our futures, for the future of our service and for you, our patients.”

UNISON Eastern head of health Caroline Hennessy said: “ESNEFT facilities staff have consistently made it clear they’d rather be supporting patients than standing on picket lines.

“But they don’t want to see the quality services they provide sacrificed so a private company can make a profit.

“If senior managers at ESNEFT want to stop these strikes and look after patients, all they have to do is scrap their nonsensical plans to outsource services.”

Glenn Allen, a chef at Aldeburgh Hospital and one of the signatories to the letter, said: “We’ll keep campaigning to stay in the NHS and for the best care for our patients.

“Neither the trust’s chief executive nor his board seem to care about staff or patients, but we feel like we’re striking to save the integrity of the NHS. We don’t want to be sold off to a company that only cares about profit.”

Read the letter