Healthcare assistants begin strike over pay deal
UnisonHealthcare assistants across six hospitals have started a two-day walk out in a row over pay.
The workers represented by Unison have been locked in a dispute with their employer Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
The union said staff were yet to receive payments for tasks performed at a higher pay grade, such as taking bloods and inserting cannulas, despite the trust accepting their workers were carrying out duties above their role in 2024.
The trust said it had paid two years backpay to "those who were entitled" to it after it agreed to change the role of nursing assistants from a Band 2 to a Band 3.
Clare Williams, regional secretary for Unison, spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle from the picket line in Cramlington.
She said the dispute was focussed on the amount of backpay for healthcare assistants and that calls for the trust to negotiate a better offer had been rejected.
"What we're talking about is really hardworking healthcare assistants - some of the lowest paid NHS workers that are giving clinical care - and they've worked for many years and been underpaid," she said.
The strike started at 07:30 BST with six Northumbria hospitals facing disruption, including Berwick Infirmary and North Tyneside General.
A trust spokesman said: "We acted quickly to make the banding changes and pay backpay to those who were entitled to it.
"As always, we are committed to working in partnership with our staff-side colleagues on local matters, and we will do what is required to ensure the safe care of our patients."