Fury as leaked video shows ESNEFT boss telling staff at outsourcing would go ahead regardless

Health workers striking to stay in the NHS are up in arms after a leaked of the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) chief executive surfaced suggesting the decision to privatise jobs had been made months ago, says UNISON today. The video – shot in May but only recently leaked to the Health […]

‘Shortchanged’ Colchester and Ipswich healthcare support staff vote to strike

More than 300 staff at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) have voted to strike after years of not being paid the full rate for the job, says UNISON today. An overwhelming 96% of clinical support staff backed strike action in a formal ballot, says the union. The workers, employed at the […]

Job losses and ward closures planned across Essex hospitals

Hospital bosses want to let 150 staff go and mothball 150 beds across Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT), UNISON has warned today. ​The trust plans to launch a voluntary severance scheme* next week to cut the 150 ‘non-frontline clinical’ posts.​ In a meeting with union reps this week, trust leaders were not […]

A large group of healthcare support staff in the Bedford Hospital canteen calling for fair banding

‘Ripped off’ Bedfordshire NHS staff vote on strike action

Healthcare support workers at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust are voting on strike action after years of being “ripped off”, UNISON says today. Hundreds of healthcare assistants, maternity care workers, theatre support assistants and other clinical support workers are calling to be properly paid for their work. The staff are currently paid at band 2, but […]

The front of West Suffolk Hospital

West Suffolk Hospital workers to rally against new parking charges

West Suffolk Hospital workers are planning to hold a protest this week against the reintroduction of staff parking charges, UNISON has announced today. Staff have not had to pay for parking since the start of the pandemic, but the trust wants to bring in charges at a flat rate of £2 a day from 1 […]

Mid and South Essex hospitals hit staff with parking charge pay cut

Thousands of Essex health staff face an effective pay cut as hospitals bosses plan to reintroduce parking charges, UNISON warns today. Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT), which runs Broomfield, Basildon and Southend hospitals, has told UNISON officials it wants to reintroduce staff parking charges from 1 August. Charges were scrapped during the […]

Mid and South Essex hospitals must start talking to staff to turn around ‘abysmal’ morale

Hospitals in Mid and South Essex must open up and start talking if they are going to turn around “abysmal” staff satisfaction levels, UNISON warns today. The official 2021 NHS Staff Survey revealed that the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) was below average in every single category of workforce satisfaction. Just 24% […]

‘Sticking plaster’ soldiers drafted in to ambulance service

Military personnel have been drafted into the east of England to ease the pressure on stretched ambulance crews. Around two dozen army staff are taking on patient transport duties in Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire so that drivers can help deal with surging 999 calls. UNISON Eastern regional secretary Tim Roberts said: “The East of England […]

NHS heroes snubbed by Suffolk MPs on pay

NHS workers in Suffolk are disappointed and disgusted after MPs ignored their requests to meet over NHS pay, UNISON says today. Health workers wrote to their representatives to discuss their urgent need for a pay rise while the government is dragging its feet. Staff were due a rise on April 1 but ministers have yet […]

Create colourful window displays to support NHS staff on pay rise due date

Families and individuals across the east of England are being urged by health unions to create colourful window displays in their homes and workplaces today to show support for NHS staff on the day they should have been getting a pay rise. Artworks designed by children’s illustrators and writers are part of a growing collection […]

Covid inquiry needed to ​learn pandemic lessons and prevent ​future frontline worker ​deaths, says UNISON

There must be a full public inquiry into the government​’s handling of the Covid crisis as soon as the worst of the pandemic is over​, says UNISON today on the anniversary of the first lockdown. ​The union​ – which represents ​1.3m NHS, care and ​other public service workers, including porters, midwives and refuse collectors – […]

Recruitment pledges must be backed by decent wage rise if NHS is to thrive

Paying staff properly is a vital part of building the NHS for the future, says UNISON as it calls on the public to protest ​this evening about the government’s “pitiful” wage offer. Plans to recruit more staff are not enough to protect the health system and will only have an effect if experienced staff are […]

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital chiefs must act after staff survey reveals mass discontent

The NHS Staff Survey was published today, putting the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital bottom of the league for quality or care and revealing huge levels of staff disengagement. UNISON Norfolk & Norwich Acute Hospitals branch secretary Andy Campling said:

“This survey must act as a wake-up call across the trust. Staff have spoken in huge numbers – the […]

Multibillion-pound pharmaceutical firm snatches Essex workers’ sick pay, says UNISON

Lloyds Pharmacy Clinical Homecare has launched an attack on its staff’s sick pay, overtime rates and other conditions, UNISON reveals today. Hundreds of staff at the firm’s warehouses and offices in Harlow and Derby face losing overtime rates and a move to a six-day working week, which could leave some of them around £2,000 a […]

Public want NHS staff to get early and significant pay rise, polls shows

A majority of the public (69%) think all NHS staff should get an early pay rise before the end of this year, according to a UNISON/Savanta ComRes poll published today. The findings also highlight how two-thirds (66%) believe a wage increase for employees — including healthcare assistants, nurses, hospital porters, midwives, paramedics and cleaners — should be significant in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. […]