Hospital staff in Leeds to begin two-week walkout next week

Low-paid NHS staff working in operating theatres across Leeds are set to strike for two weeks in an ongoing dispute over back pay and fair grading.

The theatre assistants employed by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust will walk out from 8am on Monday (22 June) and remain on strike for 14 days.

The workers say they have been carrying out duties that should be paid at a higher rate. This includes reducing the risk of infection for patients, handling clinical samples, supporting surgical teams and assisting with specialist equipment.

They are currently employed at band 2, the lowest NHS pay grade, despite carrying out a range of clinical duties which should be paid at the higher band 3.

Theatre assistants earn less than £13 per hour. It would cost little more than £1 an hour extra for them to be at the top of band 3, the union adds.

UNISON says no progress has been made in resolving the dispute despite a productive meeting with hospital bosses earlier this month. Staff have now been left with no option but to strike.

The trust’s position is increasingly out of step with NHS organisations across the region and country. Many others have agreed regrading and back pay settlements for healthcare support workers carrying out higher-level duties.

Since the launch of the union’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign, tens of thousands of healthcare support staff in England and Wales have secured regrading and back pay settlements. This follows acknowledgement by employers that support staff had been undertaking work above their pay grade.

UNISON Yorkshire and Humberside regional secretary Karen Loughlin said: “Theatre assistants have shown extraordinary patience throughout this dispute. They carry out vital work to ensure patients receive safe care and surgical procedures can go ahead.

“Staff do not want to be taking further strike action, but they have been left with little choice.

“Other NHS employers have reached sensible agreements on regrading and back pay. Leeds must do the same. These workers are simply asking to be treated fairly and consistently with colleagues elsewhere in the NHS.”

Notes to editors:
– Picket lines will be held from 8am-10am at Leeds General Infirmary, LS1 3EX on Monday 22 and Friday 26 June, and Wednesday 1 July. There will also be picket lines at St James’s University Hospital, LS9 7TF from 8am-10am on Wednesday 24 and Monday 29 June, and Friday 3 July.
– 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.    
– Staff have already held a series of strikes, in February 2026 and December 2025.
– UNISON’s Pay Fair for Patient Care campaign seeks to ensure healthcare support workers are paid correctly for the work they undertake and receive appropriate compensation where they have worked above their grade.