Lancashire NHS blood test strike continues
Hospital staff responsible for analysing blood tests across East Lancashire are to continue strike action until at least the start of next month.
Hospital staff responsible for analysing blood tests across East Lancashire are set to continue strike action until at least the start of next month.
Biomedical science workers who are part of the Unite union at the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General hospitals have not worked on weekdays since 15th June in a dispute over holiday pay.
A fresh round of action – the fourth month-long block to date – got under way this week and will run until 2nd October.
The union has accused Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LTH) – the lead employer for NHS pathology staff in all parts of the county except West Lancashire – of refusing an offer to enter into a “binding arbitration” process that would see staff return to work.
However, nationwide NHS guidance on the issue at the heart of the row, which has recently been provided to the trust, suggests its approach is correct – leaving the dispute with Unite looking increasingly entrenched.
The walkout has decimated capacity for conducting routine blood tests, ordered by GPs, across Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Rossendale, Pendle and parts of the Ribble Valley.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands that only between 50 and 70 percent of the 3,000 such tests that would ordinarily be carried out each day in East Lancashire are currently being processed in any given 24-hour period.
That fluctuating level has not improved over the past month, in spite of NHS efforts to restore a normal service – even as the strike continues – with support from non-strike affected hospitals in the county and by commissioning third party providers.
It means a backlog of routine blood tests is continuing to grow – although GPs can mark requested samples as urgent so that patients are prioritised accordingly.
As the LDRS previously revealed, Unite last month also withdrew the last of the so-called “derogations” that had been in place to help protect a range of essential tests from disruption – by allowing some staff to work in spite of the industrial action.
That meant members were no longer providing laboratory cover related to urgent and emergency care, blood transfusions, surgery, cancer services, maternity and other time-critical patient treatment.
LTH has been prioritising emergency care patients and its most critical services – again with assistance from other hospitals in the county and use of the independent sector.
The holiday pay issue relates to a grievance originally brought by Unite against East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (ELHT), which operates the Royal Blackburn and Burnley General hospitals.
The situation was inherited by LTH after it took charge of pathology services for the whole of Lancashire and South Cumbria in April.
A past tribunal had found in favour of a single employee over the matter – but the union says the issue was not subsequently resolved for the rest of the workforce which, it says, is “now owed thousands of pounds”.
Biomedicine staff in East Lancashire work across different shifts which means their pay varies. Unite says the law dictates that holiday pay should be calculated on an average of all earnings – with the principle that a worker should receive no less while on holiday than they would get when working.
LTH has previously said it was unable to resolve the dispute locally while it awaited national NHS guidance on the potential wider implications of the ruling.
However, that advice has now been received and the trust says it believes the way in which holiday pay is being calculated is appropriate.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust continues to act like a rogue employer.
“The fact that staff receive less money when they take leave is a disgrace and against the findings of a tribunal. Our members won’t stand for such behaviour and will continue to take strike action to showcase their anger.”
A spokesperson for LTH responded: “Having taken advice from NHS England and NHS Employers regarding the concerns raised about holiday pay calculations, we’re confident that our current approach is correct and that there is no detriment to employees’ pay.
“Despite this clarification, we are disappointed that the industrial action continues, particularly given the ongoing impact on patients and services.
“Our focus remains on maintaining safe services for patients. We are working with NHS partners and external providers to maximise testing capacity and minimise disruption as much as possible.”