More than 350 staff at four Greater Manchester hospitals will walk out for three days next week in an ongoing dispute over overtime payments. The strikes begin on Monday (September 14) at Salford Royal Hospital, Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield Hospital in Bury.
The action includes nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers employed by the Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust. UNISON said workers will strike for 48 hours from Monday, followed by a further day on Thursday, September 17.
Negotiations stall after last month's strikes
UNISON said negotiations over overtime payments stalled following strikes last month. The union claims the trust has refused talks.
UNISON North West regional organiser Kevin Dolan said the trust has given "no indication that it’s willing to re-enter negotiations". He added: "The department is chronically understaffed and workers are choosing to cover shortages. The least they expect is to be paid the rate it says in their contact."
Overtime pay row over NHS Professionals
The dispute centres on the use of an outside agency, NHS Professionals, to manage overtime. The union said staff can earn less than they would on a normal shift, with some missing out on as much as £80.
Strike action in June and August saw hundreds of theatre staff walk out over the same issue. The trust declared a critical incident as it prepared for more than 350 staff to strike, and said "several hundred" patients' operations were cancelled due to industrial action.
Trust faces criticism over patient care
The Northern Care Alliance, which runs the four hospitals, has previously been warned that urgent action is needed to address patient care concerns. Board papers revealed the trust faces a backlog of hundreds of complaints and that dozens of patients died or "came to harm" due to treatment delays and serious errors made by staff working under extreme pressure.
The trust previously said it recognised the challenges facing the organisation and was working to improve services. It said it was putting more clinicians into leadership positions and giving them a direct role in making decisions and driving improvements.
In a statement, the trust said: "Like many NHS organisations, we’re facing challenges. We're clear about what those challenges are and recognise the concerns colleagues have raised. We are working to address those concerns and will continue to listen when colleagues tell us we haven’t got something right, so that we can keep learning and improving."
It added: "We have clear processes to investigate incidents and learning from these is an area we need to prioritise. By doing this, we can drive forward improvements and maintain our focus on safety. We'll continue to work with our partners, including our local authorities and Integrated Care Board, as part of our ongoing commitment to making improvements."
