Bedfordshire hospital staff to strike next week in overtime pay row

NHS operating theatre staff in Bedfordshire will strike next week in a dispute about overtime pay, says UNISON today.

Hospital workers say they will walk out on Thursday and Friday (25 and 26 June) unless managers reverse plans to cut pay for staff working extra hours.

Workers employed by Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Bedford and Luton & Dunstable hospitals, are upset bosses have scrapped a payment worth up to £120 a shift for staff who work beyond their contracted weekly hours.

The union says the payment is urging the trust to reverse its decision to bring overtime payments back in line with national agreements paying time and half for the extra shifts.

In February, hospital bosses said they were switching to a system where staff doing extra hours had to take shifts paid at a flat rate. UNISON fears the change will lead to staff shortages and more cancelled operations.

UNISON Eastern head of health Caroline Hennessy said: “This smash and grab on staff pay is a disgrace.

“Workers rack up the hours to help tackle waiting lists and ensure patients get the care they need. They deserve to be paid fairly for doing so.

“It’s easy for Bedfordshire NHS to avoid any disruption. Bosses just need to keep paying staff the same rates they were before.”

Mark Williams, a senior operating department practitioner at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, said: “Ministers claim credit for getting waiting lists down, but it’s theatre staff who are doing the hard work.

“Taking away overtime pay shows a complete lack of respect for hospital workers.

“We face horrifying experiences. I’ve seen an eight-year-old child die in front of my eyes, but we still get up the next day and get on with the job. The least the trust can do is pay us fairly for it.”