Low-paid NHS staff working in operating theatres across Leeds will be on strike next week in their ongoing pay dispute.
Theatre assistants, who are on the lowest grade in the NHS, will walk out for five days on Monday (16 February). They want to be regraded and paid properly for the extra duties they say they’re now carrying out, and compensated for the extra work they’ve already done.
They’re required to carry out crucial clinical work, such as establishing sterile environments, collecting samples and assisting with complex machinery.
Staff, who work at three sites run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, went on strike for five days earlier this month, as well as for 48 hours in December.
UNISON says the trust’s refusal to pay staff fairly is out of line with other hospital trusts across the region, and around the country.
Since 2021, over 100 NHS trusts and health boards in England and Wales have agreed deals on regrading and back pay worth £250m for over 65,000 healthcare support workers.
This includes a deal at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, which was overseen by the current interim chief executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Brendan Brown.
UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside area organiser Imogen Woods said: “Staff have made it clear that they’re determined to secure the money they’re owed.
“Managers can easily prevent this latest strike from happening by getting back round the table.
“Workers don’t want to be out in the cold – they want to be doing the jobs they care about, making sure some of the most vulnerable people in Leeds receive the quality care they deserve. But they need to be paid fairly.”
Notes:
– Staff will be on picket lines from 8am at Leeds General Infirmary, LS1 3EX on Monday 16, Wednesday 18 and Friday 20 February. There will be picket lines from 8am at St James’s University Hospital, LS9 7TF on Tuesday 17 and Thursday 19 February.
– Theatre assistants are based at three sites run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. They are Leeds General Infirmary, St James’s University Hospital and Chapel Allerton Hospital.
– Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust runs seven hospitals across five sites in total: Leeds General Infirmary, St James’s University Hospital, Leeds Children’s Hospital, Leeds Dental Institute, Chapel Allerton Hospital, Seacroft Hospital and Wharfedale Hospital.
– A public petition in support of the striking workers, calling for them to be paid fairly, has received over 2,000 signatures.
