Healthcare assistants working at St Helier Hospital in Carshalton and two other hospitals in the area have secured a pay victory and have voted to accept an offer from their employers, with some to receive as much as £7,000 compensation for past underpayments.
Pay deal: healthcare assistants at St Helier and two other hospitals have settled their dispute
Staff at St Helier, at St George’s Hospital, Tooting, and Epsom Hospital took strike action over two days in January, after years of being underpaid for their duties.
“Following the walkouts and renewed negotiations, the hospital employers have now agreed a significant back-pay deal that will see some healthcare assistants receiving more than £7,000 in compensation for work they carried out while on the wrong pay grade,” Unison said.
Those with two or more years’ service will also see an additional £2,204 on their annual salary.
Healthcare assistants will be regraded from Band 2 to Band 3 of the NHS pay scale, with workers with two or more years of service going to the top of the grade.
Healthcare assistants can include healthcare support workers, maternity care assistants, maternity support workers, theatre support workers, theatre support care workers, theatre support assistants, clinical support workers and anti-coagulation clinic assistants.
When balloted over the offer, the workers at all three hospitals overwhelmingly backed the deal.
Unison is the country’s largest union, with more than 1.3million members working across public services. Sara Gorton, their London regional secretary, said: “This is a huge victory for healthcare assistants who refused to be ignored.
“Staff stood firm and forced their employers back to the table. As a result, they’ve secured the improved pay deal they deserve.
“This sends a strong message across the NHS – when healthcare workers stand together, they can win fair pay and respect for the skilled work they do every day.”
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