Hertfordshire NHS workers to strike after being shortchanged for years

Healthcare support workers at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Foundation Trust will stage two three-day strikes from next week after years of being underpaid for their work, says UNISON today. More than 200 clinical support workers should be properly compensated for carrying out band 3 clinical tasks – such as blood monitoring, ECGs and patient […]

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 […]

Senior Essex hospitals managers ‘give themselves a discount’ on parking

Senior managers at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) have given themselves a discount on the hospital parking charges paid by all other employees, UNISON says today. The trust came under fire earlier this year for reintroducing staff parking charges, with more than 5,000 health workers and patients signing a UNISON petition branding […]

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 […]

Colchester Hospital cleaners and porters stage week-long strike to stay in the NHS

​Hundreds of cleaners, porters, housekeepers and other Colchester Hospital support staff are to stage a week-long strike as they battle to keep their jobs in the NHS, says UNISON today. ​The walkout – from Monday 19 to Friday 23 August – will also hit several community sites run by East Suffolk and North Essex NHS […]

‘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 […]

‘Ripped off’ Essex healthcare support staff deserve fair pay

Healthcare support staff are handing in more than 400 open letters to the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSEFT) board today asking for fair pay for the clinical duties they undertake, says UNISON. A delegation of healthcare assistants, maternity support workers, theatre assistants and other clinical support staff are to present the letters […]

Public must speak out against ‘damaging’ cuts to NHS prescription service

Members of the public should make their voices heard over “damaging” cuts to the NHS Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) service in Norfolk and Waveney, UNISON says today. Residents are being urged to take part in a public engagement launched this week over plans to withdraw the service. POD provides a dedicated telephone service for patients […]

Outsourced Ipswich NHS staff plan protest over poverty wages

Cleaners and caterers at an NHS mental health unit in Ipswich will stage a protest on Thursday over the “poverty wages” paid by contractor G4S, UNISON announces today. Most G4S staff at Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) are only paid the minimum wage of £10.42 an hour — £1 an hour less than […]

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 […]

UNISON members stand around a brazier on the picket line

UNISON health workers vote to accept NHS pay offer

NHS workers who belong to UNISON have voted decisively to accept the pay offer from the government, says the union today. The consultation of 288,000 NHS workers across England closed at 3pm this afternoon. Almost three quarters (74%) voted to accept the offer, and 26% to reject. Turnout in the consultation exercise was 53%, with […]

NHS strikes paused after new pay offer

Planned East of England strikes for 20 March have been put on pause after the government made a new offer in the long-running dispute over NHS pay. After two weeks of frantic negotiations, ministers have offered an additional one-off lump sum for 2022/23 that rises in value up the NHS pay bands. This is worth […]

UNISON to suspend strike to enter NHS pay talks with government

The strike planned for next Wednesday involving thousands of East of England Ambulance Service staff and other NHS workers has been suspended to allow UNISON to enter pay talks with the government, the union said today. Following a meeting of its health committee this afternoon, UNISON announced it was suspending the action scheduled for 8 […]

Strikes across the NHS edge closer as latest industrial action ballot begins

Around 350,000 NHS employees, working for more than 250 health trusts and boards across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, are being asked to vote for strike action over pay this winter from today, says UNISON. Porters, nurses, security guards, paramedics, cleaners, midwives, occupational therapists and other NHS staff across the rest of the UK join […]