Healthcare assistants at South Tyneside and Sunderland hospitals set for strike action in pay banding row

Hundreds of NHS workers at the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Trust have voted to take strike action.

The dispute involves healthcare assistants and clinical support workers at the trust who are members of the union UNISON. The staff are planning walk-outs unless the trust improves its pay offer in a complicated dispute focussing on how the union believes staff should have been paid more than they have been, because they have been asked to take on increasingly difficult tasks.

The union believes healthcare assistants have been undertaking clinical tasks which mean they should be paid at the band 3 NHS Agenda for Change pay rate, rather than band 2 as is currently the case. The union said there had been 99% of staff in favour of industrial action.

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A spokesperson for the NHS trust said healthcare assistants were "vital and much valued" and the trust wanted to resolve the issue as soon as possible. South Tyneside and Sunderland is the third trust in the North East to bring a formal dispute over this issue - previously staff at the North Tees and Hartlepool and South Tees Hospitals NHS trusts won a substantial pay rise in July following 14 days of strike action.

In South Tyneside and Sunderland, the staff in question held a demonstration outside of Sunderland Royal in Kayll Road last March. The issue comes as they say they have been carrying out clinical tasks such as blood tests and ECGs. Being moved up a pay band would see them paid almost £2,000 a year more.

UNISON's Northern head of health Ian Fleming said: “Healthcare assistants and clinical support workers across South Tyneside and Sunderland want to continue providing exceptional care to people. However, they need to be fairly paid for their work. The trust has had opportunities to improve its initial offer. The majority of healthcare assistants have worked well above their wage rate for years. The trust’s offer falls well below what they deserve.

“Staff in South Tyneside and Sunderland have seen their colleagues on Teesside win their campaign for fair pay and are determined to do the same.”

An NHS trust spokesperson said: "Our healthcare assistants are a vital and much valued part of our team and we want to resolve this situation as quickly as possible. We do not want to put anyone at a financial detriment because of any changes to their banding.

"As a responsible employer, we take this duty of care very seriously and will continue to put the best interests of staff first."